Guilty pleasures
By NewsPress Now
Travis Kelce named host of ‘Are You Smarter than a Celebrity?’
Travis Kelce’s NFL off-season with the Kansas City Chiefs has been a busy one.
The Super Bowl LVIII-winning tight end is the host of a new game show called “Are You Smarter than a Celebrity?” for Prime Video, the streaming service confirmed Tuesday. Filming for the 20-episode season has already completed.
The premise is a twist on “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?”, which debuted on Fox in 2007 and was hosted by Jeff Foxworthy. It also aired in syndication. John Cena hosted a 2019 revival for Nickelodeon.
In Kelce’s show, an adult contestant will be given 11 elementary-level questions where they can ask a classroom of various celebrities for help answering. The final question is from the 6th grade curriculum and is worth $100,000. Only one celebrity is allowed to talk through the answer to the last question with the contestant.
Kelce, who is dating music superstar Taylor Swift, said in a statement he grew up watching game shows and is “excited to be following in the footsteps of so many TV icons.”
This isn’t Kelce’s first TV gig. He starred in his own 2016 dating competition show for E! called “Catching Kelce” and hosted an episode of “Saturday Night Live” last year.
Paris Hilton backs bill to bring more transparency to youth treatment facilities
SACRAMENTO, Calif. | Paris Hilton joined California state lawmakers Monday to push for legislation aimed at cracking down on the industry that cares for troubled teens by requiring more transparency from youth treatment facilities.
The bill supported by the Hilton Hotel heiress and media personality aims to pry open information on how short-term residential facilities for youth dealing with substance abuse and behavioral issues use disciplinary methods such as restraints or seclusion against minors. It would require such centers to notify parents and the state any time they use restrains or seclusion rooms for minors. It’s authored by Republican state Sen. Shannon Grove and Democratic state Sens. Aisha Wahab and Angelique Ashby.
On Monday, Hilton testified in a legislative hearing in support of the bill, detailing her harrowing abuse as a teenager at a facility in Utah that she said still haunts her and urging lawmakers to take actions before more children have to suffer similar treatment.
“Our current system designed to reform, in some horrific instances, does the exact opposite,” Hilton told lawmakers Monday. “It breaks spirits and instills fear, and it perpetuates a cycle of abuse. But today, we have the power to change that.”
The California bill passed committee with bipartisan support on Monday. Under the bill, facilities would have to report details such as what disciplinary actions were taken, why and who had approved the plan. The state department regulating the facilities also would be required to make public the reports and update the database on the quarterly basis. It would not ban the use of such practices.
Hilton has become a prominent advocate for more oversight and regulation of teen treatment centers after publicly sharing the physical and mental abuse she suffered as a teenager. She alleged staff members would beat her, force her to take unknown pills, watch her shower and send her to solitary confinement without clothes as punishment.
In 2021, her testimony about her experience at Utah’s Provo Canyon School helped pass a bill to impose stricter oversight over youth treatment centers in the state. Hilton has also traveled to Washington D.C. to advocate for federal reforms and helped changed laws to protect minors in at least eight states. Earlier this month, she spoke in support of boys sent to a private school for troubled teens in Jamaica.
Hilton, whose company called 11:11 Media is sponsoring the bill, called the legislation “a game changer” that would shed light on child abuse at youth residential treatments and hold them accountable.
“This would have been so helpful to myself and so many others to have known what was happening behind closed doors,” Paris said in an interview. “Because I was cut off from the outside world, I couldn’t tell my family anything, and that’s what they do.”
Between 2015 and 2020, California sent more than 1,240 children with behavior problems to out-of-state facilities due to the lack of locked treatment centers for youths, according to Sen. Grove’s office. As reports about abuse happening at these programs emerged, including an incident where a 16-year-old boy died after being restrained for about 12 minutes at a Michigan facility, California also found significant licensing violations at these facilities and decided to do away with the program in 2020. Legislation passed in 2021 formally banned the use of out-of-state residential centers. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom also authorized $8 million to bring all the minors home by last year.
Minors with behavioral issues are now sent to in-state short-term residential centers, which were created in 2017 to replace group homes. But under current laws, these facilities are not required to share information on how often they use seclusion rooms, restraints, and how many times those methods result in serious injuries or deaths.
Children at these facilities make up one of the most vulnerable populations, including foster youths who have previously been sexually exploited, Grove said.
“It’s a small but critical step to ensure the increased transparency and accountability for California’s children,” she said Monday.
ABBA, Blondie, and the Notorious B.I.G. enter the National Recording Registry
LOS ANGELES | ABBA, Biggie, Blondie and Rudolph are entering America’s audio canon.
New inductees into the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress include ABBA’s 1976 album “Visitors,” The Notorious B.I.G. ‘s 1994 album “Ready to Die,” Blondie’s 1978 breakthrough “Parallel Lines” and Gene Autry’s 1949 version of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”
Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden announced the 25 new titles in the class of 2024 on Tuesday, saying in a statement that they are “worthy of preservation for all time based on their cultural, historical or aesthetic importance in the nation’s recorded sound heritage.”
Puerto Rican singer Héctor Lavoe’s signature song, 1978’s “El Cantante,” written by Ruben Blades, will enter the registry, along with Mexican singer Juan Gabriel ‘s tribute to his mother, “Amor Eterno.” The library is enshrining a 1990 recording of the song first released in 1984.
Other titles deemed to be among “the defining sounds of the nation’s history and culture” are Jefferson Airplane’s 1967 album “Surrealistic Pillow,” Green Day ‘s 1994 album “Dookie” and the Chicks ‘ 1998 “Wide Open Spaces,” the most recording among the new inductees.
Lily Tomlin’s 1971 album of sketches “This Is a Recording” is the only comedy and the only non-musical recording on this year’s list.
Autry, the singing cowboy who was among America’s biggest stars in the mid-20th century, recorded the definitive version of “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” Last year a newer holiday perennial, Mariah Carey’s, “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” joined the registry, which now has 650 titles.
“The Visitors” was the disco-tinged fourth album from the Swedish supergroup ABBA, and included their hits “Dancing Queen”, “Money, Money, Money” and “Fernando.”
Blondie and singer Deborah Harry had their commercial breakthrough with “Parallel Lines,” an album with a famous striped black-and-white cover that featured “Heart of Glass.” It’s joined this year by another new wave classic from the same year, the self-titled debut album by the Cars.
The Notorious B.I.G.’s 1994 album “Ready to Die” featuring “Juicy” and “Big Poppa,” the only album released during his life, headlines hip-hop entries that also include “La-Di-Da-Di” — Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick’s 1985 single.
“Rocket ‘88’” by Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats, the 1951 single that some argue was the first rock ‘n’ roll song, is also on the list.
Career-defining singles from several canonical artists are also entering the registry, including “Chances Are,” from Johnny Mathis, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” from Bobby McFerrin,” “The Tennessee Waltz” from Patti Page and “Ain’t No Sunshine” from Bill Withers.
Participant, studio behind ‘Spotlight,’ ‘An Inconvenient Truth,’ shutters
Participant, the activist film and television studio that has financed Oscar winners like “Spotlight” and socially conscious documentaries like “Food, Inc,” and “Waiting For Superman” is closing its doors after 20 years.
Billionaire Jeff Skoll told his staff of 100 in a memo shared with The Associated Press Tuesday that they were winding down company operations.
“This is not a step I am taking lightly,” Skoll wrote in the memo. “But after 20 years of groundbreaking content and world-changing impact campaigns, it is the right time for me to evaluate my next chapter and approach to tackling the pressing issues of our time.”
Since Skoll founded the company in 2004, Participant has released 135 films, 50 of which were documentaries and many of which were tied to awareness-raising impact campaigns. Their films have won 21 Academy Awards including best picture for “Spotlight” and “ Green Book,” best documentary for “An Inconvenient Truth” and “American Factory” and best international feature for “Roma.”
Participant was behind films like “Contagion,” “Good Night, and Good Luck,” “Lincoln” and “Judas and the Black Messiah,” the limited series “When They See Us” and also a sequel to their documentary “Food Inc,” which they rolled out this month. Their films have made over $3.3 billion at the global box office. But the company had a “double bottom line” in which impact was measured in addition to profit.
Skoll stepped back from day-to-day operations of the company years ago. Veteran film executive David Linde has been CEO of Participant since 2015, during which they had their “Green Book” and “Roma” successes.
“I founded Participant with the mission of creating world-class content that inspires positive social change, prioritizing impact alongside commercial sustainability,” Skoll wrote. “Since then, the entertainment industry has seen revolutionary changes in how content is created, distributed and consumed.”
Skoll added that their legacy “will live on through our people, our stories and all who are inspired by them.”
—From AP reports
