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Robin Thicke grew up on TV sets. His beloved late father, Alan Thicke, played everyone’s favorite TV dad, Dr. Jason Seaver, on the 1980s sitcom Growing Pains, as well as hosting game shows and talk shows and producing and writing the iconic theme songs to a number of sitcoms (Diff’rent Strokes) and game shows (Wheel of Fortune).
But after deciding early on to focus on music and releasing eight studio albums — including 2013’s multi-platinum Blurred Lines, which featured the Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping title track — Thicke took what he thought would be a brief detour into prime-time TV when he joined the panel of The Masked Singer.
Fast-forward more than four years, and Thicke is gearing up for Wednesday night’s (Sept. 27) launch of the reality singing competition’s 10th season and marveling at how much joy he takes from the guessing games he gets to play with fellow panelists Ken Jeong, Nicole Scherzinger and Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg every week.
Before the season 10 debut, Thicke sat down with Billboard for a chat about this year’s new format; whether he really, seriously has no idea who is under those masks; his opinion on why the show has struck such a chord with viewers during a wild few years; and his plans for the follow-up to his 2021 album On Earth, and in Heaven.
Your dad spent seven years in prime time on Growing Pains and logged hundreds of episodes on game shows. Did you ever imagine you’d follow in his footsteps and put up 10 seasons on a prime-time show?
There was a moment when I never saw myself as a TV guy. I loved and idolized my father — he was my Greek God — but I definitely wanted to pave my own way and be an artist and I didn’t see myself as a TV guy. Then, this opportunity came and when we finished the first season and T-Pain was the winner as Monster… I came home and said, “This could be a hit show!” I looked up at the sky and said, “My dad would love this.” He loved prime-time TV and he loved hosting all kinds of shows and would have been jealous of [Masked Singer host] Nick Cannon. He loved every day of work and always joked that he was the affordable [season 8 Masked contestant and Star Trek star] William Shatner.
This season will really mix it up, taking the best styles from previous seasons, using the Wild Card, Battle Royale and Ding Dong Keep It bell and all kinds of themed nights (Elton John, Harry Potter, Trolls Night). How do you keep things fresh after this many seasons?
Any time a show gets around season 7, it starts to stale out and you have to rejuvenate it. The last few seasons the theme nights have been so fun — Elton John, the disco night we did last season was amazing — and I think what’s great about season 10 bringing back favorite contestants (Jewel, Bret Michaels, Le’Veon Bell) and the fan-favorite elements from previous seasons [will keep it fun].
Do you have any say in the theme nights? This year’s sounds fun: NFL, One Hit Wonders…
It gives us a chance to dress silly like we’re going to a themed birthday party. It’s a blast to dress up. We are so in love with each other from the beginning. I had never met Ken, but I knew Jenny from a couple parties and Nicole and I were both on Interscope at the same time… Nick and I knew each other from the Real Husbands of Hollywood. In fact, Nick was the one who suggested me [for the panel], so I have to thank him for. When we first started I didn’t know if it was my thing, but then I kind of fell in love with it and it was a blessing.
Readers ask all the time, so I have to ask: Do you really have no idea who the singers are?
Absolutely not. We’re not near them and we don’t hear them warming up. Most of the time, up until the last second [I don’t know who they are]. It’s only when I hear a familiar voice that I’ve listened to a million times and know the voice in my head [that I can guess it]. The amount of times when one of us thought we were 100% sure and were wrong…
I am a bit bummed that he’s never tweeted at me about it — since I have consistently referred to him as “Always Wrong Ken Jeong” — but, seriously, how does the good Doctor always get it so wrong?
He’s starting to take it more seriously lately. But he’s the court jester and he loves to have fun and nobody has more fun than Ken. He brings the drama and energizes the crowd.
Have there ever been ones that you figured out right away because they had a tell only you would know?
I used to watch the Ricki Lake show as a teenager in school, and when she was touching her heart when she was speaking [during season 1], I was like, “That’s Ricki Lake!” And when [fellow season 1 contestant and NFL great] Terry Bradshaw laughs, his shoulders pump up and down, so as soon as he started talking I was like, “That’s Terry! I know that laugh!”
You have four kids, and contestants often tell me they do the show because their kids love it or they love watching with their kids. How do yours feel about it?
They love it. Because of COVID restrictions, I finally just brought the three young ones to their first full shoot during season 10, and they had the time of their lives. Their eyes were glued to the stage and they asked all kinds of questions later. I think it’s kind of a surreal, magic land experience with crazy characters and beautiful scenery and amazing music and dancing.
I know Nicole is still around this season [before sitting out season 11 during her current run as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard in London], but how do you feel about Rita Ora stepping in for the next one?
Nicole is part of the OG four, so she’s on Mount Rushmore. We’re so lucky to have Rita, who is just a pro and so lovable and funny. … She blended in perfectly and is also a ham like the rest of us. We blend in like a nice smoothie.
Why do you think this show has struck such a chord with viewers? Is there something about this crazy time we’re living in that has made it so popular?
You can do everything by yourself now with streaming [and phones]. The warmth of community and brotherhood and sisterhood is dwindling, so I think it’s important any opportunities we have to go to a ball game or go with a bunch of friends to a concert where everyone puts their phone down to watch the show. That’s rare in these days and the bond we bring is meaningful.
This show has kept you busy for years, do you have any music you’re working on to give you a break from your day job?
My home burned down in the [2018] Malibu fires, so I’ve been on the road for four years and having children, so I have a big vault of unreleased music. Since we moved back to the Malibu house, the past eight or nine months have been the most productive I’ve been for years. I’m excited for new music at the top of 2024… I have 75% of the album done.
Get ready for a bumper car of monologue jokes about how they spent their summer. The four hosts of the major networks’ late-night talk shows will all be back in the saddle on Monday (Oct. 2) following the resolution this week of the 146-day strike by Hollywood writers. NBC announced in a statement that The […]
The 2019 murder of rapper Nipsey Hussle is the subject of a just-launched limited true series entitled Behind the Crime. The show, which premiered this week on Fox’s Tubi network on Wednesday, is a collaboration with Dan Abrams’ Law&Crime network and it follows the killing of Hussle, as well as the murder trial of Eric […]
Cardi B stopped by to chop it up with Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live on Monday night (Sept. 11), and, as always, the “Bongos” rapper didn’t hold back when it came to everything from her disappointment in the work ethic of today’s strippers to whether she’d say yes if tapped to perform at the SuperBowl and which famous person has slid into her DMs.
First things first, though, during the call-in segment, a fan asked if Cardi will finally collab with her hero Lil Kim on her upcoming, as-yet-untitled sophomore album. “I really do want one. I’m going through my songs right now,” Cardi said of the long-teased follow-up to smash 2018 debut studio album Invasion of Privacy.
“My thing is, like, everybody be like, ‘If you guys love each other so much why you guys still don’t have a collab?’,” she said in a mocking voice. The truth, Cardi revealed, is that she wants a potential team-up to be so great and undeniable that nobody can judge it and be harsh on them. “I want to make sure that it’s like, the greatest song. But I would love, love, love to do a song with Lil Kim.”
For the record, Cardi said her next album will be finished this year, released next year and might feature some male rapper collabs and will be followed by a tour.
Asked to dream up what her tagline would be if she joined Cohen’s Real Housewives universe, Cardi wasted no time coming up with the perfect, ripped-from-the-headlines quip: “The only thing I throw harder than mics is shade,” she said in reference to the microphone she hurled at a fan who’d tossed a drink on her in Las Vegas earlier this summer.
After turning down a chance to perform at the 2019 Super Bowl with Maroon 5 because of her desire to “stand behind” ex-NFL player Colin Kaepernick, a fan asked if Cardi would reconsider if asked again. “Now I would say yes,” Cardi said. “Things change.”
Cardi — who did time as an exotic dancer before pivoting to rap — also weighed in on what she sees as a lack of work ethic among strippers these days. “What I don’t like is, I feel like back then strippers, like, used to dance a little harder,” she said. “Like now, the girls won’t even climb the pole.” When Cohen wondered if strippers today are phoning it in, Cardi said, “They’re lazy. They’re lazy and I be spending like racks.”
The host and guest then bonded over their mutual love of Madonna, with Cardi explaining that her devotion was born out of her mom’s love for the pop legend. “Growing up I always listened to Madonna, Madonna, Madonna,” she said. “In fact, I asked Megan [Thee Stallion] what is her favorite to-do love song… well, she said she likes to hear yer own ass clappin’… but mine, when I’m a little bit drunk and I’m in there, in there, I like to listen to ‘Erotica,’” she said.
Cardi also shared what her go-to karaoke song is: Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You,” while busting out a few whispery bars of the iconic ballad and confessing that the most famous name to slide into her DMs was tennis champ Serena Williams.
Some other tidbits we learned:
— Cardi’s first concert, and the only one she attended before getting famous, was by Bronx-bred bachata group Aventura, which she went to when she as eight-years-old because her dad knew someone who worked at the venue.
— While playing “Plead the Fifth,” Cardi said out of her nine Grammy nominations, the one she feels most robbed about losing was for best rap song and best rap performance for her breakthrough hit “Bodak Yellow” at the 60th annual ceremony in 2018.
— Since she got her start on Love & Hip-Hop, a fan asked if Cardi would ever do a reality show with husband Offset. “Yeah I wouldn’t mind, but I kind of mind,” Cardi said. “I feel like I would get cancelled every day.”
Cardi also played a round of “Fashion, or Trash, Hun,” running down some of her best and worst red carpet looks, while howling at a few of her weirdest, wildest and most on-point outfits.
Watch Cardi on WWHL below.
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Years before Rihanna was the mother of two, Ethan Hawke very publicly tried to shoot his shot with the “Rude Boy” singer at the 2015 NBA All-Star game. The photo of the incident went viral at the time after Hawke very slickly traded places with his son in the front row at the game and was photographed leaning wayyy back in his chair and chatting Rihanna up.
“I’ve been caught by the paparazzi openly flirting with Rihanna,” the actor said, with his daughter, Maya Hawke, correcting him by noting that he was “openly trying to” flirt with the singer. “Trying to flirt,” he agreed, “and that’s been to the family shame.” Maya tried to bail him out by saying, “no, it’s family pride.”
Hawke posted a picture of the incident on Instagram in which his son is doing a face palm motion while watching his dad chat up the music superstar, with the actor captioning the pics, “after Rihanna’s brilliant half time performance, I’m hoping my son can find it in his heart to forgive a Dad for taking his moment.”
The revelation came during a game of “How well do Ethan & Maya Hawke really know each other” in a bit for Variety, in which dear old dad totally blew it when asked what Maya’s first school play was — it was Jenny in Jenny and the School for Cats, not the Artful Dodger in Oliver. The father-daughter pair are promoting the new movie Wildcat, in which Ethan directs Maya as author Flannery O’Connor (A Good Man Is Hard To Find and Other Stories) in a chronicle of her attempt to get her first novel published. The chat heated up when the interviewer asked if Ethan would rather see RihRih or Lady Gaga in concert.
Maya had a very fast answer for that one, because that information is “really available online,” she smirked in reference to the flirty pics. While Ethan said “both,” his daughter corrected him, saying the answer was “RihRih by a long shot.” To be fair, Ethan said he’s been to a Gaga show, but really would like to see Rihanna live sometime. Then, in a total dad moment, Ethan said he remembers taking Maya to see Lady Gaga once, with his daughter correcting him by noting that they went to see Madonna and Gaga was sitting near them at the show.
“We did have an amazing year where we went to see Madonna, Taylor [Swift] and Adele, and it was highly educational, very motivational year for me,” said Maya, who is also a recording artist who released her Moss album last year. If you’re keeping score, Ethan kind of got it when asked to name the fist song Maya ever wrote, remembering that the tune was written at their family home in Nova Scotia, though she was a bit fuzzy on how many Oscar nominations her dad has had (the answer is four, if you’re keeping score).
Watch the Hawke’s discuss the Rihanna incident below.
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Millie Bobby Brown has ascended to global stardom as a character who has telepathic powers on Stranger Things. In real life she also seems to have a special sixth sense when it comes to love.
The 19-year-old actress told the Sunday Times that she was intrigued by future fiancé Jake Bongiovi, so she did what anyone her age would: she bombed through his Instagram. “I was interested in him and wanted to know more. As soon as we spoke I knew he was going to be a huge part of my life,” she said. “After we met we knew we never wanted to leave each other’s side.”
Brown and Bongiovi, 21 — the youngest of Bon Jovi singer Jon Bon Jovi‘s four children — appeared to confirm their engagement in April with a black and white post on Brown’s Insta that featured a clever Taylor Swift reference. “I’ve loved you for three summers now, honey, I want ’em all,” Millie wrote alongside the image of Jake hugging her from behind on a beach while she modeled what appeared to be a diamond ring on her ring finger. Jake’s version of the post featured the word “Forever” followed by a heart emoji; Brown and Bongiovi were first linked after they posted a selfie together in June 2021.
The actress told the paper that she quickly knew Jake was her forever person. “I ran to my mum and said, ‘I really, really like him!’ After we met we knew we never wanted to leave each other’s side,” she recalled. “You can’t pinpoint why, it’s just the feeling of knowing that that’s the person you want to spend the rest of your time with. I think so much of life is overthinking. The one thing that made clear sense to me was him.”
Speaking of that bling, Brown said Bongiovi used her mother’s ring in his proposal. “I’ve always loved that ring, it’s always stuck out to me, so she gave it to Jake,” she revealed. “They were in cahoots about the whole proposal. I love that I can always keep a piece of my mum with me.” Brown said her parents “adore” Jake, noting that they both come from families where their parents have been together for a long time; Jon Bon Jovi and wife Dorothea Hurley are high school sweethearts.
“My parents were young when they got together, so I always had amazing role models for relationships,” she said. “His family are wonderful people who welcomed me with open arms. I’m really grateful to be a part of their world.”
Brown said there is no set wedding date yet, but several designers have contacted her about making her a dress, though she insisted it’s “not about what I wear.” As of now, Brown said she’s not sure whether she’ll change her name to something like Millie Bobby Brown Bongiovi, or Brownovi, joking, “I definitely don’t think that’s it. We are having those conversations [though] and they are important to me.”
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes. Samsung and Disney have teamed up for a collaboration to celebrate the media and entertainment conglomerate’s 100th anniversary — and it’s […]
Jon Batiste has been lucky so far and avoided being pelted on stage by any sex toys, cell phones, bracelets or mixed drinks. But when the former Late Show bandleader and Grammy-winning solo star sat down with Andy Cohen on Thursday night (Aug. 10) on Watch What Happens Live for a round of rapid-fire “Spill […]
The Great White Way is awash in red in the first trailer for season three of Only Murders in the Building. The nearly three-minute preview that dropped on Wednesday (July 26) opens with season two guest star Paul Rudd’s Ben Glenroy dropping dead on stage during a Broadway show, leading star and co-executive producer Martin Short’s Oliver Putnam to have one of his patented freak-outs.
“Who are we without a homicide,” co-star Selena Gomez‘s Mabel Mora shrugs at the news as she, Putnam and third co-star/co-creator Steve Martin’s Charles-Haden Savage agreeing to, of course, make a podcast about it.
The third season of the hit Hulu series starring Gomez, Martin and Short continues to follow the three amateur detectives obsessed with true crime as they investigate yet another murder. After previously seasons have featured such guest stars as Tina Fey, Sting, Roy Wood Jr., Jimmy Fallon, Jane Lynch, Amy Schumer and Cara Delevingne, the upcoming run of the Emmy-winning dramedy has added former guest star Rudd and Oscar-winner Meryl Streep to its cast.
A synopsis of the upcoming season reveals that Charles,Oliver and Mabel will investigate a murder behind the scenes of a Broadway show focused on Rudd’s Glenroy, “a Hollywood action star whose Broadway debut is cut short by his untimely death. Aided by co-star Loretta Durkin (Streep), our trio embarks on their toughest case yet, all while director Oliver desperately attempts to put his show back together.”
In the preview, the fumbling detectives dive into Agatha Christie mode, putting together a list of suspects in Glenroy’s murder that includes not-very-good actress Durkin, as well as another new addition, Emily in Paris star Ashley Park’s “TikTok-addicted starlet” Kimber, who Savage fears may have committed murder most foul as par of an “internet mem.”
“Why are you saying it like that,” Mora asks her elder sleuth about his latest malapropism. Gomez’s Mora is joined this time by another new face, documentarian Tobert (Jesse Williams of Grey’s Anatomy ) in the preview, in which Savage laments that Putnam’s Broadway set is a “death trap.” Among the other faces that pop up in the trailer are previous guest Lynch, as well as Lane’s frequent Broadway partner and new addition Matthew Broderick in an unspecified role.
Season 3 of Only Murders in the Building will debut on Hulu on August 8. Watch the trailer below.
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Jamie Foxx surprised fans on Thursday (July 20) when he posted a picture from Las Vegas in which the actor posed on a Formula 1 race car while promising some exciting upcoming projects. Foxx, who has rarely been seen in public since his daughter, Corinne, announced on April 12 that her dad had been hospitalized for an undisclosed “medical complication“; to date neither Foxx nor his family have provided any additional information on the illness or the status of Foxx’s recovery.
Dressed in a sharp dark green suit, Foxx posed on top of a gold Formula 1 race car, his right foot resting on one of the vehicle’s front wheels, with a gold band black helmet resting next to him. “Thankful for my @BetMGM family and a great few nights in Vegas,” Foxx wrote in what appeared to be a product promotion post.
It was the next bit that got fans talking however, with Foxx promising, “We got BIG things coming soon,” followed by a fox emoji. Check out Foxx’s photo here. It was unknown at press time what project Foxx was teasing with the post.
According to E! News, daughter Corrine shared another picture from what appeared to be the same campaign shoot on her Instagram Story, writing, “Year 4 of @betMGM in the books.” The post also found the 29-year-old wearing a black t-shirt and denim shorts while seated next to her dad on the car. “So proud of you always Dad.”
It was Corrine who announced to the world three months ago that her dad had suffered a medical issue. “Luckily, due to quick action and great care, he is already on his way to recovery. We know how beloved he is and appreciate your prayers,” she wrote at the time. On May 12, the model provided an update, saying her dad had been discharged and was recovering at home. “In fact, he was playing pickleball yesterday!” she said at the time.
On May 3, Foxx broke his silence, thanking fans in a note for their support. “Appreciate all the love!!! Feeling blessed,” Foxx wrote. The next day, friend Nick Cannon also provided an update on Foxx’s progress. “I gotta tell you, there would be no Nick Cannon if it wasn’t for Jamie Foxx,” said Cannon, who stepped in for Foxx on the set of the Fox network game show Beat Shazam. “I love this brother and in a real family-type way, man. He looked out for me when I didn’t have a place to sleep as a teenager. This brother let me sleep on his couch…It was good times and those good times will continue ’cause I am expecting that my brother is gonna just recover fully.”
Last week Foxx was spotted waving from the deck of a boat cruising on the Chicago River, though he did not appear to stand up or speak in a short video of the ride. A day later it was announced that Foxx and Colin Firth will co-produce the first-ever official documentary on beloved late R&B singer Luther Vandross.