12/5/2023: Un-Retirement Club
PLUS: Spotify Cuts; Britney’s Reconciliation Tour; and Scobie’s Story Slides
Today is Tuesday, December 5, 2023.
It is the 339th day of the year.
26 days remain.
###
WHAT’S ON TAP
North Korea calls mothers to action and Oxford announces its word of the year. Details in HIT LIST.
TAYLOR SWIFT could be Time’s Person of the Year and MAREN MORRIS is enjoying the single life. More in SHOWBIZ.
ROBERT DOWNEY JR. almost missed out on playing Iron Man. Find out more in CASTING CALL.
The acting bug has bitten KIM KARDASHIAN. Find out what else she is working on in KARDASH.
OMID SCOBIE’s claims unravel in ROYALS.
###
HIT LIST
QUICK CORRECTION: Someone politely pointed out a head-in-the-clouds mistake I made on Friday. America is returning to the Moon with a lander for the first time in five decades, not centuries. Clumsy mistake. It’s one thing to miss typos, it’s another to get the content so substantively wrong, especially as an advocate for innovations in space technology and travel.
Nik
P.S. If you pledge a subscription, we get a step closer to hiring that intern to help with edits 🤓
###
North Korea wants to spur its own baby boom.
KIM JONG JUNIOR has announced that his female citizens have a patriotic duty to start cranking out more children. He made the call to action at the country’s first “National Mothers Meeting” held in over a decade.
In a speech, Junior said that “Stopping the decline in birthrates and providing good child care and education are all our family affairs that we should solve together with our mothers.”
While the notoriously secretive country does not publish demographic information, South Korean intelligence suggests that the North Korean fertility rate has steadily declined over the last ten years. [via Associated Press]
###
WELCOME TO UN-RETIREMENT: ResumeBuilder.com reports that 12% of retired Americans say they’re going to look for work some time in ‘24.
Respondents say an increased cost of living driven by inflation affected their decision.
More than one-third of those getting back in the saddle say they’re just bored.
GOOD NEWS: The vast majority of respondents say they’re at least somewhat enthusiastic about re-entering the workforce, at 78%. [via ResumeBuilder]
###
Streaming giant SPOTIFY says it’s laying off 17% of its global workforce, amounting to an estimated 1,500 job cuts around the world.
In a company-wide memo, CEO DANIEL EK said Spotify overhired in 2020 and 2021 and borrowing costs have increased. “Economic growth has slowed dramatically and capital has become more expensive. Spotify is not an exception to these realities,” he wrote.
The cuts follow a more modest 6% headcount reduction earlier this year and a 2% reduction in June. [via NBC News]
WORTH REMEMBERING: Spotify pulled out of its $20 MILLION production deal with MEGHAN MARKLE and PRINCE HARRY earlier this year. No word how much of that was actually paid out.
###
Oxford University Press has named “rizz” as its word of the year.
The slang derives from “charismatic,” especially when an individual’s style and charm attracts romantic partners.
More than 32,000 voted on the word from a list of eight options provided by OUP. “Rizz” beat out words like “prompt” (as in giving artificial intelligence a “prompt”) and “situationship,” a word millennial fogies might know better as “friend with benefits.” [via CNN]
###
Siblings Vaishali Rameshbabu and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu are the first sister-brother duo to become Chess grandmasters.
Vaishali, landed the title on Friday at the age of 22, becoming the third woman in India to earn the title, while her brother Praggnanandhaa became the second-youngest grandmaster in history in 2018 at only 12-years-old. [via BBC]
###
BABY NEWS
Multiple outlets reported Monday that ASHANTI is (maybe) expecting her first child with boyfriend NELLY.
While it’s her first, it will be his third -- his other two kids are already adults.
Stay tuned…
###
BREAKUPS
DEION SANDERS and TRACEY EDMONDS have called off their engagement.
The pair announced the split in a joint Instagram post saying they have decided to “move forward in life AS FRIENDS.”
The former football player and TV producer first met in 2012. They got engaged in 2019.
By the way -- they are both 56.
###
WEDDINGS
VANNESA HUDGENS and COLE TUCKER have tied the knot.
She’s 34 and he’s 27.
The actress and baseball player reportedly said “I do” in Tulum, Mexico over the weekend.
###
BY THE NUMBERS
📈 The DOW lost 41 points (0.11%) to close at 36,204 on Monday. The S&P lost 24 points (0.54%) to close at 4,569 and the NASDAQ lost 119 points (0.84%) to close at 14,185.
🛢 WEST TEXAS INTERMEDIATE closed at $73; BRENT CRUDE at $78.
⛽ The national average price of a GALLON OF GAS was $3.24 on Monday.
₿ BITCOIN is in the midst of what some analysts say could be a rally to $100,000. It gained more than 5.8% on Monday, charting past the $42,000 mark. Bitcoin peaked over $64,000 in November 2021.
🛩 There were more than 2,770 FLIGHTS delayed within, into, or out of the United States on Monday and more than 90 such cancellations.
💰Tonight’s MEGA MILLIONS drawing will be for a $377 million or a $175.4 million cash payout.
###
SHOWBIZ NEWS
It turns out BRITNEY SPEARS’ weekend reunion with her mom LYNNE SPEARS was not their first time getting together since the release of her book, “The Woman In Me.”
Insiders told TMZ that they have been hanging out over the past few weeks.
In an even stranger turn of events, sources say Brit has also reached out to her sister JAMIE LYNN SPEARS.
DON’T HOLD YOUR BREATH: Chances are there won’t be any sort of reunion with her dad, JAMIE SPEARS, though. [via TMZ]
###
TAYLOR SWIFT, Hollywood striking actors and writers, and BARBIE are among those on Time Magazine’s shortlist for 2023 Person of the Year.
Other finalists include OpenAI CEO SAM ALTMAN, Chinese President XI JINPING, Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN, KING CHARLES III and Federal Reserve chairman JEROME POWELL.
Last year’s Person of the Year was Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY.
The Person of the Year will be announced on Wednesday. [via Variety]
###
USHER wrapped up his Vegas residency over the weekend with an emotional final show.
While singing “Without You,” he dropped to his knees and put his face in his hands, clearly overcome with emotion. His backup dancers were on hand to support him during the overwhelming moment.
Now, Usher will be gearing up to perform at the Super Bowl halftime show on February 11. [via ET]
###
BILLIE EILISH says her recent interview with Variety, in which she stated she is attracted to both men and women, was not meant to be her coming out moment.
“I kinda thought, wasn’t it obvious,” she said on the red carpet for the Variety Hitmakers Brunch. [via Billboard]
WORTH NOTING: Eilish has only ever been publicly seen dating men, so the news could come as a surprise to some.
###
SUSAN SARANDON has apologized for her pro-Palestinian rant that got her dropped from her talent agency last month.
As previously reported, the actress suggested that Jewish people who are afraid of the rise of antisemitism amid the war in Gaza are “getting a taste of what it is like to be Muslim in this country.” Two weeks later United Talent Agency would drop her as a client.
In her apology, Sarandon said her word choice was “a terrible mistake” and she “deeply regret[s] hurting people with [the] comment.” [via Decider]
###
Country singer MAREN MORRIS is putting herself first.
After filing for divorce from fellow country singer RYAN HURD, Morris said she is enjoying “not answering to anyone and not having to protect anyone’s feelings.”
“I think it’s going to be a really empowering 2024,” she added.
As previously reported, Morris filed for divorce last month after five years of marriage to Hurd. She cited irreconcilable differences as the reason. [via ET]
###
CASTING CALL
FLORENCE PUGH was pelted in the face with an object at a Comic-Con event in Brazil over the weekend.
The actress was standing alongside her “Dune: Part Two” co-stars when a fan chucked an unknown object at them, hitting her in the eye.
Footage of the incident circulated online, showing the rest of the cast confused by what had happened.
Thankfully Pugh did not appear to have been seriously injured. [via Rolling Stone]
###
ROBERT DOWNEY JR. almost missed out on the role of Iron Man.
Insiders told Vanity Fair that when it came to casting, studio executives did not want Downey Jr. -- who was known as a “reformed loose cannon” -- to star in the Marvel flick. He was ultimately given the gig after “Iron Man” director JON FAVREAU advocated for him and convinced those questioning his morals to at least let him do a screen test.
And the rest is history. [via Vanity Fair]
###
A series based on the 1999 movie “Cruel Intentions” is heading to Amazon Prime Video.
The eight-episode series will serve as an update to the film, according to sources close to the project.
RECAP: “Cruel Intentions,” starring REESE WITHERSPOON, RYAN PHILLIPE, SARAH MICHELLE GELLER and SELMA BLAIR, is a modern retelling of the 1782 novel “Les Liaisons dangereuses,” which follows the going ons of rich high schoolers in New York. [via THR]
###
MARTIN SCORSESE’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” is now available for digital purchase.
The film is set in 1920s Oklahoma and depicts the serial murder of members of the oil-wealthy Osage Nation, a string of brutal crimes that came to be known as the Reign of Terror.
The movie stars LEONARDO DICAPRIO and ROBERT DE NIRO. [via Deadline]
WORTH NOTING: A streaming date for the movie has not yet been announced.
###
THE DAILY KARDASHOPUS
KIM KARDASHIAN is teaming up with RYAN MURPHY for a new show at Hulu.
She will reportedly play a successful divorce lawyer and owner of an all-female law firm in what has been described as a “high-end, glossy and sexy adult procedural.”
Kim previously worked with Murphy on “American Horror Story: Delicate.” [via Deadline]
###
WE’LL NEVER BE ROYALS
OMID SCOBIE continues to lose his credibility as the “royal racists” saga continues.
After telling the media he never included the names of the Senior Royals who expressed concerns about PRINCE ARCHIE’s skin color before he was born to mother MEGHAN MARKLE in any version of his manuscript for his book “Endgame,” a source now tells the Times of London that an earlier version of the book absolutely contained those names.
The final proof did not name names – but the version the Dutch translator had certainly did.
The development comes as palace insiders say that the Firm is weighing legal action against Scobie.
GO FIGURE: Scobie says he ultimately left the names out to avoid this very kind of legal response. [via DailyMail]
###
DAY OF THE YEAR
Krampusnacht
World Soil Day
Bathtub Party Day
Sacher-Torte Day
International Ninja Day
National Repeal Day
###
ON THIS DATE
1492 - Christopher Columbus reaches the coast of Hispaniola.
The culmination of his first adventure across the Atlantic made him the first recorded European to set foot in the Caribbean.
The natives received him and his men well, at least at first.
Later, inhabitants of the present-day Dominican Republic attacked the crew with arrows. He managed to kidnap a handful of the attackers, though, and brought them back to Europe.
###
1717 - English pirate Edward Teach (aka Edward Thatch) ransacks the merchant sloop “Margaret” off the coast of Crab Island, near Anguilla. He takes Captain Henry Bostock, and his crew, prisoner while his crew empties the ship.
He holds them for eight hours before releasing them all, unharmed. After, Bostock returned to his base of operations on Saint Christopher Island, where he reported the encounter to Governor Walter Hamilton.
In the retelling, Bostock describes Teach as a “tall spare man with a very black beard which he wore very long.” It is the first recorded account of the pirate’s appearance and the source of the infamous moniker: Blackbeard.
###
1872 - A small British boat discovers an American vessel at full sail near the Azores islands.
The American boat was called the Mary Celeste. It was completely stocked and in tip-top condition -- but no one was on board.
The British crew boarded the Mary Celeste to find water in the hold and the lifeboat missing.
The captain, his family, and the eight passengers were never found.
###
1933 - Prohibition ends.
With ratification of the 21st amendment, the sale and transportation of alcohol was again legal in the United States.
For the previous 14 years, gangsters like Al Capone thrived on the bootlegging business.
Several states would remain dry for a couple decades. Mississippi would stay dry until 1966.
###
1945 - Five TBM Avenger torpedo bombers disappear while flying over the Bermuda Triangle.
None of the pilots or their crews were ever found. A Mariner flying boat was put into the air to search for the missing planes -- it too disappeared, and is suspected to have exploded in mid-air.
A Navy investigation concluded that the planes ran out of fuel and the pilots ditched in the ocean.
###
1969 - The prototype of the Internet grows, with the expansion of the Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency computer network. ARPANET for short.
The project linked what were called network nodes in Los Angeles, Menlo Park, Santa Barbara, and the University of Utah.
At first the computers only shared test messages to ensure that information could be shared between networks. From there, it expanded exponentially as more researchers connected to this network of networks.
The same principles and technology now power the Internet.
###
2001 - “Ocean’s Eleven” premieres in Westwood, California.
The flick, directed by Steven Soderbergh, stars George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Julia Roberts.
The film grossed $450 million on its opening weekend, worldwide.
Two sequels would follow, making up the “Ocean’s Trilogy,” as well as an “Ocean’s 8,” with an all-female lead cast, released in 2018.
###
2018 - National day of mourning for former US President George H.W. Bush as he lies in state at the Capitol Rotunda in Washington.
Bush passed away on November 30th from vascular Parkinson’s disease at his home in Houston, Texas.
He was 94.
###
BIRTHDAYS
Saint West - son of Kim & Ye - 8
Ava Kolker - actress, “Scary Movie 5” & “Girl Meets World” - 17
Conan Gray - pop singer - 25
Maddie Poppe - pop singer - 26
Frankie Muniz - actor, “Malcolm in the Middle” - 38
Keri Hilson - pop singer - 41
Shalom Harlow - model - 50
Kali Rocha - actress, “Grey’s Anatomy” & “Man with a Plan” - 52
Catherine Tate - actress, “Doctor Who” - 54
Lisa Marie - actress, “Mars Attacks!” - 55
Margaret Cho - comedian - 55
Brian Backer - actor, “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” - 67
Born On This Date
Little Richard - rock singer - 1932 (d. 2020)
Walt Disney - entrepreneur, Disney - 1901 (d. 1966)
Martin Van Buren - 8th POTUS - 1782 (d. 1862)
###