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The Jennifer Hudson Show has been renewed for a fourth season. Warner Bros. Television Group announced the news on Wednesday (Feb. 19), revealing that the Emmy-nominated syndicated daytime talker will be back for the 2025-2026 season on Fox Television stations.
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“It is an unbelievable privilege to spend your days being able to engage with inspiring people from all walks of life; to hear their stories and connect on shared experiences; and to hopefully leave audiences a little more joyful than when they arrived,” said EGOT-winner Hudson in a statement. “This show is a testament to what happens when you do what you love, and when you do it alongside an unstoppable team who creates magic in new ways every single day. I’m so excited to take this adventure to new heights in season 4!”
To date, the series has earned a number of industry honors, including two NAACP Awards — Outstanding Talk Show Series (2024) and Outstanding Talk Show Host (2023) — as well as the Excellence in Media Award at the 2024 GLAAD Media Awards, where it also took home the Outstanding Variety of Talk Show Episode prize. Hudson also won the 2024 National Association of Broadcaster’s TV Chairman’s awards in 2024 for the series that has racked up 10 Daytime Emmy nominations since its debut in September 2022.
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“Audiences and our great television station partners agreed – JHud is must have television. We believe in great programming, and Warner Bros. Television Group always delivers for our business and fans,” David Decker, president of content sales at Warner Bros. Discovery said in a statement.
Lauren Bincoe, SVP or current programming at Telepictures added, “Jennifer Hudson’s extraordinary talent and ability to connect with people have made The Jennifer Hudson Show a standout in daytime. This season, the show has seen incredible growth, creating moments that resonate beyond the screen – like the viral sensation Spirit Tunnel being a powerful example. Jennifer embodies the show’s Choose Joy message in every episode, and as we head into season 4, we’re grateful for the continued support of our station partners and proud to build on this momentum with Jennifer and our award-winning production team.”
Guests this season have included former First Lady Michelle Obama, Usher, Angela Bassett, Keke Palmer, Gwen Stefani, Cynthia Erivo, Kelly Rowland, Jimmy Kimmel, Smokey Robinson and Keith Urban, among others. Upcoming guests include: Kevin Hart, BLACKPINK’S Jennie, Maroon 5’s Adam Levine, Tina Knowles, Regina Hall, and Big Sean, among others.
Hudson celebrated the the news by doing one of her show’s signature celebratory spirit tunnel walks with her staff, who sang about the good news and the good vibes they keep spreading.
Watch Hudson announce the renewal below.
Pete Davidson is in the midst of a major make-over. The Saturday Night Live veteran and star of the new box office-topping animated flick DogMan has been showing off the results of hours of painful laser sessions to burn of the more than 200 tattoos that once riddled his torso while making the rounds to promote this weekend’s SNL50: The Anniversary Celebration special.
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He’s also talking, a bit, about his string of high-profile romances and how his tabloid-target dating life while on the show turned into a huge distraction, including his whirlwind romance, engagement and break-up with Ariana Grande. “It was pretty humiliating and upsetting, honestly,” he told Page Six of the attention and noise that his personal life got during his eight seasons (2014-2022) on the show. “Everyone is dating everyone and it’s Hollywood. Look at Paul Mescal, Timmy [Chalamet], Barry Keough,” he said. “But because I’m ugly, they wrote about me. I was harassed for like five years and it made my life a living hell.”
Davidson, 31, said the focus on his off-screen romances with Kim Kardashian, Kaia Gerber, Kate Beckinsdale and Cazzie David became “embarrassing,” because he wanted people to focus on his comedy and sketch work on SNL as one of the youngest, some might say rawest, performers to ever take the stage at Studio 8H. “All that got pushed to the side because of who I was dating,” said Davidson, who auditioned for the show when he was 20.
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In one of his rare public comments about the blink-and-you-missed-it 2018 romance with Grande that began in the spring, led to an engagement in June and a break-up that October — during which he got four tattoos dedicated to Grande and she wrote a song for him, “Pete Davidison,” for her Sweetener album — Davidson said things are good these days.
“When we see each other, which is few and far between, because we’re not in the same circles, it’s all love,” Davidson said of the singer/actress, who is nominated for her first Oscar for best supporting actress in Wicked. “I hope she wins the Oscar, I hope she takes the gold,” he added. “I’ve had some pretty adult relationships with some pretty amazing women, and when it’s ended it’s been cool.”
As for that phrase that has followed him around since that time in reference to his Grande-confirmed endowment with “BDE” (aka big d–k energy), Davidson said that, too, is a bit much. “I’m a very sensitive person and it’s humiliating to see a picture of yourself eating a sandwich in a pink T-shirt with the headline ‘This is what BDE is,’” Davidson said.
Davidson is showing off his newly blank skin canvas in revealing ads for women’s clothing company Reformation and he told Page Six that after breaking up with Outer Banks actress Madelyn Cline last summer he hasn’t been dating anyone. “I’m starting to turn my life around,” said the comedian who has been open about his longtime struggle with substance use and mental health issues.
Clean and sober and out of the glare at the moment, Davidson said he feels for other stars who get descended on by the paparazzi, specifically calling out the attention focused on Justin Bieber and wife Hailey Bieber. “I look at other celebrities and I’m less judgy. They’re dogging Bieber now — leave the kid alone, he’s clearly exhausted and just trying to be a father to his kid,” said Davidson, who added that he dreams of one day having a life like his friend comedian and former SNL writer John Mulaney, who has two children with actress Olivia Munn.
“I hope that happens for me,” Davidson said.
SNL50: The Anniversary Celebration will air live on NBC at 8 p.m. ET on Sunday (Feb. 16) and then stream on Peacock.
You know how it is when you’re lost in the riff, head banging so hard that you unleash a torrent of embarrassing white flakes. No, not that kind. That’s the dilemma facing Saturday Night Live cast mates Bowen Yang and Sarah Sherman in a new CeraVe shampoo ad in which they portray the lead singers […]
Since filing for divorce from ex-husband Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) in 2021, Kim Kardashian has mostly kept quiet about the couple’s relationship, how they are co-parenting their four children and whatever feelings she might have about West’s repeated public meltdowns in which he spouts hate-filled antisemitic invective for days on end.
But in Thursday’s (Feb. 13) episode of The Kardashians, Kim opened up a bit about what may have caused the dissolution of the couple’s marriage while bonding with sister Khloé about her own marital issues. After having an emotional reunion with her ex-husband, retired NBA player Lamar Odom, after nine years apart, Khloé said she got married “too quickly” to Odom.
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Though their marriage lasted only five tumultuous years, Khloé said she “wouldn’t change a thing” about marrying the man she called the “love of my life,” lamenting that if it weren’t for Odom’s well-publicized struggles with substance use they might still be together. “I know I picked the right person at that time,” she told Kim and their mother, Kris Jenner, in the episode.
Kim seemed to relate to the sentiment, seemingly referencing her struggles with West, saying, “That’s the hardest part. I’ve been there. When you don’t foresee something happening that really changes a person’s personality and then they’re not the same person and you can’t ever get that person back, but you can’t live with the new person. I get it.”
Kim had more to say in a confessional segment, adding, “It’s tougher when you don’t want your marriage to end off of personal reasons but circumstances change that force your marriage to end. When you weren’t planning on that and that’s not really the outcome you want but there’s no other option, I think it makes it harder to get over.”
While the SKIMS founder never specifically named West in the episode of the Hulu series, it appeared as if she was referencing their relationship, which ended with Kardashian stating in a petition to be considered legally single in early 2022 that Ye was “creating emotional distress” by sharing “misinformation” about their private family matters.
While the reality star was open to talking about what she said at the time was West’s struggle with bipolar disorder during their relationship, the rapper recently claimed that his now-wife, Bianca Censori, has told him that he was mis-diagnosed and is likely on the autism spectrum.
Kardashian’s comments on the show — which is taped months before the episodes air — came just a few days after West deleted his X account following a four-day spree of virulently antisemitic posts in which he declared once again “I’m a Nazi” and “I love Hitler,” before briefly offering a shirt emblazoned with a Nazi swastika for sale on his Yeezy site.
The offensive posts have once again caused serious professional fall-out for West, who has been criticized for spreading hate speech by the ADL and fellow artists, as well as being dropped by his booking agent and hit with a lawsuit by a Jewish staffer who alleged that he compared himself to Hitler and threatened her because she is Jewish.
You may not always be able to sing them at work in full voice, but over the past half century Saturday Night Live has given us some of the most hilarious, surprisingly tuneful (and often NSFW) musical shorts and original comedy tunes in TV history.
From second season cast member Bill Murray’s smarmy Nick the Lounge Singer’s groovy original Star Wars theme song to Eddie Murphy’s dead-on impersonation of soul legend James Brown and Adam Sandler’s seasonal classic “Hanukkah Song” and howling Opera Man bits, the sketches work because — as former cast member Maya Rudolph said in one of the recent anniversary specials — “when you can really sing, that’s when you’re the funniest.”
Plus, when you really, really love the music you’re spoofing, it shows, as in the legendary “More Cowbell” sketch and, of course, Justin Timberlake and Andy Samberg’s ribbon-rung new jack surprise, “D–k in a Box.” Whether they’re parody songs, topical tunes or just left-field jams about crypto currency or airport sushi, the show has always found a way to balance earworm singability with LOL lyrics.
In the recent Questlove-directed Ladies & Gentleman… 50 Years of SNL Music primetime special, Rudolph — an accomplished vocalist herself, and daughter of legendary soul singer Minnie Riperton — explained that Murphy’s eerily spot-on version of Stevie Wonder was so perfectly funny, “not because he’s dressed as Stevie Wonder… it’s funny because he’s pulling off the musicality of Stevie Wonder.”
Parody songs and original musical bits have been a part of the show’s fabric since the Not-Ready-For-Primetime-Players debuted on Oct. 11, 1975 with a cast including future legends Chevy Chase, Laraine Newman, Dan Akroyd, John Belushi, Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris, Gilda Radner and others. But the volume, quality and virality of the show’s for-laughs songs have rocketed to new heights over the past 20 years thanks to a string of stone cold killer tunes from the Samberg-led writing/producing trio The Lonely Island.
Their roster of must-pass-around bits are among the modern era’s most beloved, including such chart-worthy ditties as “Lazy Sunday” — the first SNL digital short to blow up on a then-nascent YouTube — to “Motherlover,” “Jizz in My Pants,” “I’m on a Boat” and “I Just Had Sex.”
The trio’s golden ear for musical comedy gold has continued to keep SNL buzzing in our ears as recent casts have added in such modern marvels as “Murder Show,” “Yolo” and “This is Not a Feminist Song,” as well as former writer and frequent guest host John Mulaney’s bonkers off-Broadway-worthy musical extravaganzas. And if you missed A Complete Unknown star Timothée Chalamet’s 2020 ode to his favorite miniature mount, “Tiny Horse,” the first time — saddle up, it’s a whole ride.
Though the list of our favorites is way longer — and you won’t find any of Belushi’s iconic Blues Brothers bits here, because they featured covers of classic blues songs, not originals — here are our 50 favorite SNL original songs/musical shorts ever, as we prepare for the all-star prime-time SNL 50 special on NBC airing this Sunday (Feb. 16).
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BLACKPINK‘s LISA can’t wait for everyone to see her acting debut in the hit HBO series The White Lotus when the third season of the show debuts on Sunday (Feb. 16). The K-pop superstar spoke to Variety about her acting debut and she said that although she had a great time with her cast mates during the shoot in Thailand, it wasn’t a total cakewalk.
“I don’t know what to feel right now. I’m just so excited. I can’t wait for all of you guys to watch this show,” Lisa said at Monday’s (Feb. 10) season 3 premiere at Paramount Studios in Hollywood. “It is my first acting [experience] so I don’t know what to expect on set, but everybody just being so supportive helped me a lot. So thank you, everyone.”
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The upcoming season chronicling another group of pampered vacationers over the course of a tumultuous week will focus on a wealthy businessman and his family, three longtime friends who haven’t hung out in a while and a rough-edged man and his girlfriend will feature newbie Lisa (credited with her full name, Lalisa Manobal) sharing the screen with a number of A-listers, including: Leslie Bibb, Carrie Coon, Walton Goggins, Michelle Monoghan, Parker Posey and returning star Natasha Rothwell.
While Lisa was excited to join bandmates Jennie (The Idol) and Jisoo (The Producers) with her TV acting debut, things did not get off to a great start in her first scene. When director/show creator Mike White yelled “action,” Lisa said she instantly froze up. “I’m so nervous. I was sweating,” she said of her role as resort employee Mook. “I was like, ‘I can’t remember my lines.’ I’m blanked.”
The singer made good use of her time on set to product test her solo songs though, playing them for her cast mates, including her solo hit “Rockstar” before it was officially released. “We’re just sharing what we do. All of them are so supportive,” Lisa said. She recently dropped the new single “Born Again” featuring Doja Cat and RAYE, the four song from her upcoming debut solo album, Alter Ego, which is due out on Feb. 28.
Last week, BLACKPINK teased a 2025 world tour, with dates and venues not yet announced.
As for whether she’ll dip back into acting after her first experience, LISA said she doesn’t have another acting gig set up right now. But when asked what kind of movie she’d like to act in, Lisa thought playing a “badass” in an action movie might work. “Oh yeah,” she said. ” I think so.”
Season 3 of The White Lotus will debut on HBO and stream on Max beginning Sunday (Feb. 16) at 9 p.m. ET, with new episodes dropping weekly.
Brian Austin Green is not typically one to speak his mind about ex-wife Megan Fox’s business. But the Beverly Hills, 90210 alum told People magazine that his recent call-out of Fox’s ex-fiancé, Machine Gun Kelly, was born of frustration. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “That’s not something […]
Megan Thee Stallion and “Gangnam Style” superstar PSY are teaming up for a new Apple TV+ reality music competition series called KPOPPED. According to a release announcing the eight-episode song battle show, each episode will feature “western icons reimagin[ing] one of their biggest hits, collaborating with top-tier K-pop idols to deliver spectacular battle performances, with […]
Ariana Grande is always up for a challenge, and she proved it on Wednesday night’s (Feb. 5) Jimmy Kimmel Live! when she agreed to play along with the show’s “Wing it & Sing It” game. “It’s too late, I can’t turn back,” Grande told Kimmel after he explained the rules of the game in which a vocalist has to sing lyrics they’ve never seen before.
With some light accompaniment from a pianist wearing angel wings, Grande eased into the bit “absolutely blind” with the first lines coming up pretty benign before things got increasingly weirder. “I am a strong, successful woman,” the Oscar-nominated Wicked star crooned. “Who always stands up tall,” she continued, adding, “even though I am, in fact,” she added with dread. “Uh-oh, oh God,” she said, fearing the next line.
“So very, very small/ Life, they say, is short/ And it turns out I am too/ I’m a human baby carrot/ I’m a Lady Pikachu/ I am little, I am tiny, I’m the perfect bite-sized snack,” she emoted in between chuckles. “Ten of me stacked up/ Only equals one Shaq,” she continued, bending over laughing.
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There were more size jokes (“I’m an oompa, I’m a loompa/ I’m a pint-sized mini me,” “I can run a marathon in a hamster wheel”), leading to the star commenting, “it’s going still, it’s long as f–k.” She just lost it on the “for a bed I use a sock” line, and praised the pianist for adding the appropriate amount of flare to the line “I’m the bird in the cuckoo clock.”
“And yes, my name is Grande, it’s ironic that I’m small,” she continued with the usual vocal flourishes in the bit that P!nk and Chris Stapleton have participated in before. Things finally took a turn toward the end, as Grande put some sauce on the line, “But I don’t let it bother me, you’ll never see me frown/ ‘Cause I’m defying gravity and you can’t pull me down,” she trilled through more laughs about the line referencing the big, beloved Wicked show-stopper ballad. For the finale, she climbed on a chair to sing the theme from the “It’s a Small World” Disney ride as Kimmel’s sidekick, Guillermo Rodriguez, handed her a huge bouquet of flowers.
Grande returned to chat with Kimmel about Wicked‘s 10 Oscar nominations, describing her reaction to watching the livestream announcing this year’s nominees in London. “I was a mess, I almost collapsed,” she said of the impact of the news of her best supporting actress nod alongside co-star Cynthia Erivo, who got tapped in the best actress category for her role as Elphaba. Grande described the instant stream of congratulatory calls she got, including from her mom, her two best friends, her team, as well as her therapist and her gynecologist.
Kimmel had to stop her on that last one, with Grande quipping, “Why didn’t you ask about that [one?] No, it was lovely. I was like, ‘Oh my God, it’s been a while. Are we good?… We’ll hug over the next breast exam!” Grande also described the physical challenges of singing in a completely different, “fully opera” register as Glinda versus her “mix-y/belt register” with some falsetto pop style.
The 97th Academy Awards will take place on March 2.
Watch Grande on Kimmel below.
Katy Perry can’t wait to hit the road this year with the whole family for her Lifetimes tour. On Wednesday night (Jan. 29) she told Jimmy Kimmel that she and fiancé Orlando Bloom will be taking their four-year-old daughter Daisy with them on her 75-date world tour, which kicks off in Mexico City on April 23.
“Now I have a four-year-old little girl and we’re going around the world and it’s going to be very different,” Perry said of her first global outing since 2017. One of the biggest changes is that instead of taking the stage around 9 or 9:30 p.m., Perry plans to take all her fellow mothers and fathers into consideration by kicking things off closer to 8:30 because she now understands that bedtime takes more than 90 minutes.
And while Daisy saw her mom perform during Perry’s Las Vegas residency, when Kimmel asked if the toddler will be singing and dancing along to Katy’s songs — or if she has a favorite — the singer admitted that her daughter’s top pick is not the one she’d prefer. “She knows a song that I don’t want her to know,” Perry said. “[It’s] called ‘Peacock.’ Again, this is my karma. I have obviously tortured people with this,” she added of the spicy track from her 2010 Teenage Dream album on which she subtly requests, “I wanna see your peacock, cock, cock/ Your peacock, cock/ Your peacock, cock, cock.”
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“I got her a peacock dress-up dress at the zoo and she just dances around and sings that song I’m just like, ‘NO!!’,” Perry said, covering her face.
The singer, dressed in a studded leather two-piece outfit, kicked the chat off with a bang after Kimmel said she seemed hyped up and “ready to go,” prompting Perry to confirm she was “ret ta go!” before busting into a the hand-jive portion of Chappell Roan’s “Hot To Go.”
“H-O-T-T,” she began, before the studio audience picked up the “G-O!” part to Perry’s delight. Kimmel then noted that the last time Perry was on his show she’d announced she was quitting American Idol after seven years to mount the Lifetimes tour. “I miss them so much though,” she said of her former desk mates, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan. “Hi Luke, hi Lionel!,” she added, noting that both men still reach out to her by text and that they still talk.
“They probably started a new text chain with Carrie Underwood,” Kimmel teased about the Trump inauguration performer country star who will join the team when the 23rd season of the show kicks off on March 9 on ABC. “They probably have a new text chain, but I think it’s perfect,” Perry said.
Perry also talked about her first-ever concert, a Radiohead show at the Santa Barbara bowl when she was 13 — but looked 18. “They invited me backstage and my dad said, ‘hell no!’,” she recalled. Kimmel then cued up a clip of a show from way back where Perry did a daring stage dive, a bit she said she used to do all the time during her first road outing on the Warped Tour in 2008. “I really went for that one! I’ve never seen that clip!” she said.
The singer also plugged tonight’s (Jan. 30) Fire Aid concert to raise funds for the victims of the recent L.A. wildfires, where she’ll perform at the Intuit alongside Billie Eilish, Gracie Abrams, Lady Gaga, Olivia Rodrigo, Peso Pluma and many more.
Watch Perry on Jimmy Kimmel Live! below.