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Harvey Weinstein responds to Adrien Brody mentioning his kids at the Oscars

2025-03-06 00:15:00
PEOPLE
Adrien Brody

NEW YORK — Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein has responded to Adrien Brody’s Oscars acceptance speech from behind bars.

Brody on Sunday took the Academy stage to accept the award for his leading role in “The Brutalist,” and during his speech thanked the two children Weinstein shares with his ex-wife and Brody’s current partner, Georgina Chapman.

“I share this with my amazing partner, Georgina, who has not only reinvigorated my own self-worth, but my sense of value and my values,” said the 51-year-old actor. “And her beautiful children, Dash and India, I know this has been a roller coaster, but thank you for accepting me into your life, and Popsy’s coming home a winner!

Weinstein, who’s currently in prison on Riker’s Island while awaiting retrial on overturned charges of rape and sexual assault, released a statement on Tuesday addressing Brody’s speech.

“Harvey is happy for Georgina and grateful that his kids are being loved and cared for as they deserve to be,” a representative for Weinstein told The Hollywood Reporter.

Chapman and Weinstein were married in 2007 and separated in 2017 amid a slew of sexual assault allegations against the film exec. Their divorce was finalized in July 2021, a year and a half after Weinstein of convicted in New York of third-degree rape and committing a criminal sex act.

Brody and Chapman were first linked in 2019 and confirmed their relationship in 2020.

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Kendrick Lamar, left, and Drake

iHeartMedia says legal dispute with Drake was settled because it 'did nothing wrong'

HOUSTON — Texas-based iHeartMedia said it settled its legal dispute with Drake over Kendrick Lamar’s dis track “Not Like Us” after demonstrating that it “did nothing wrong.”

Drake had alleged in a legal petition filed in November that iHeartMedia received illegal payments from Universal Music Group to boost radio airplay for “Not Like Us.” UMG is the parent record label for both Drake and Lamar.

San Antonio-based iHeartMedia initially declined to comment on the settlement, which was revealed last week in court documents. The media company released an updated statement Saturday.

“In exchange for documents that showed iHeart did nothing wrong, Drake agreed to drop his petition. No payments were made — by either one of us,” the statement said.

A representative for Drake disputed iHeart’s statement Tuesday, saying the company “has not provided a single document as of yet to Drake, let alone any information that showed they did nothing wrong.”

“This back and forth is silly. Drake dropped the petition. We did nothing wrong. End of story,” iHeartMedia said in a statement late Tuesday.

In a court document filed Thursday in Bexar County, where San Antonio is located, attorneys for Drake said the rapper and iHeartMedia had “reached an amicable resolution of the dispute” but did not offer any other information.

The dismissal of iHeartMedia from the petition was done “with prejudice,” meaning Drake would not be able to refile the petition against the company.

A hearing on a motion by UMG’s lawyers to dismiss Drake's petition had been set for Wednesday but was changed to March 24, according to court records filed this week.

Drake’s petition in Texas also alleges UMG knew “the song itself, as well as its accompanying album art and music video, attacked the character of another one of UMG’s most prominent artists, Drake, by falsely accusing him of being a sex offender.”

Besides the legal petition in Texas, Drake in January filed a defamation lawsuit in federal court in New York City against UMG over what he alleges are false allegations of pedophilia made in “Not Like Us.” Lamar is not named in the lawsuit.

On Tuesday, a judge overseeing the defamation lawsuit rejected a request from UMG to delay a pretrial hearing and put a pause on discovery, which is the exchange of evidence between the two sides. UMG had sought the delay until a judge could hear its request to dismiss the case.

Drake’s lawyers said in a statement that they were “pleased with the Court’s decision to reject UMG’s continued attempts to stall discovery — another clear sign that UMG cannot run from or bury the truth.”

UMG’s lawyers did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

The feud between Drake, a 38-year-old Canadian rapper and singer and five-time Grammy winner, and Lamar, a 37-year-old Pulitzer Prize winner who headlined the Super Bowl halftime show on Feb. 9, is among the biggest in hip-hop in recent years.

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Jennifer Hudson

Basketball hits Jennifer Hudson in face during Knicks game

NEW YORK — Jennifer Hudson was hit in the face by a basketball during Tuesday’s New York Knicks game in a courtside experience that was anything but common.

The 43-year-old titular talk show host and rapper beau Common were caught off guard when the ball flew into the crowd, with Knicks point guard Miles McBride rushing over to try and stop the ball from making contact with Hudson’s face, according to TNT footage making the rounds on social media.

Despite his best efforts, the 24-year-old athlete failed to save the day as the ball knocked Hudson’s glasses off her face. “Protect Jennifer Hudson!” said one commentator, while another remarked that the glasses “looked real expensive.”

The Oscar-winning couple was a bit shaken, with 52-year-old Common shaking McBride’s hand as a reeling Hudson folded her glasses against her shirt and blinked and could be seen mouthing, “Wow,” as Common rubbed her shoulder.

The commentators determined that the “Silo” star, real name Lonnie Rashid Lynn, “tried” to shield Hudson.

Playback footage also shows both Hudson and Common bracing for the incoming impact of the ball.

The Bleacher Report’s tweet showing the incident, which took place before the Golden State Warriors beat the Knicks 114-102, has been viewed more than 2 million times on X alone.

The “Dreamgirls” star and Common confirmed their relationship in January 2024, though they were initially linked in 2022 while working on the film, “Breathe.” That year was a big one for Hudson, as it also solidified her EGOT status (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony winner) when she won the Tony for Best Musical as a producer for “A Strange Loop.”

From combined wire services

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