Phil Collins has offered a heartbreaking update on his health.
“The thing is, I’ve been sick. I mean very sick,” Collins, 74, told MOJO magazine in an interview published on Tuesday, February 18.
The legendary singer-songwriter, whose daughter is Emily in Paris star Lily Collins, has largely retreated from the public eye following the completion of his band Genesis’s The Last Domino? Tour in March 2022. A myriad of health problems meant Phil sat in a chair during those shows, while his son, Nic Collins, replaced him on drums.
In this new interview, Phil admitted that his health setbacks have dampened his interest in writing and recording new music.
“I keep thinking I should go downstairs to the studio and see what happens. But I’m not hungry for it anymore,” he conceded.
Collins is a type 2 diabetic and also suffered nerve damage from a spinal injury in 2007. He was unable to play drums at all for a period of time, before undergoing surgery in 2015. Following this procedure, Collins triumphantly announced in October 2015 that he was “no longer retired.”
Mark Sagliocco/Getty Images
The rocker reunited with Genesis bandmates Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks for their second and final reunion tour in 2020, but several Last Domino? concerts faced postponements in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Peter Gabriel, who fronted Genesis between 1967 and 1975, chose not to join his bandmates on stage but attended their final show at London’s O2 Arena to support Collins.
“Phil wasn’t in as great a shape as he used to be, but they did a great job,” Gabriel told MOJO. “Me going was a rite of passage, really. I’d been part of the creation of Genesis, so I wanted to be there at the end.”
During an appearance on BBC News in 2023, Rutherford revealed that Collins was “much more immobile” due to his health problems.
“He’s fine now at home, he’s enjoying life,” Rutherford said. “He’s worked so hard over the years. I think he’s enjoying his time at home.”
A more recent update came from the 2024 documentary Phil Collins: Drummer First, in which he spoke candidly about how his health problems have impacted his lifelong passion for drumming.
“If I can’t do what I did as well as I did it, I’d rather relax and not do anything,” he insisted. “If I wake up one day and I can hold a pair of drumsticks, then I’ll have a crack of it. But I just feel like I’ve used up my air miles. It’s still kind of sinking in a bit … I’ve spent all my life playing drums. To be suddenly not be able to do that is a shock.”
Collins got his first plastic drum at age 3. As a professional, he sold a staggering 33.5 million solo albums in the U.S. throughout his career, on top of the more than 100 million he sold with Genesis worldwide. Initially hired as the group’s drummer, Collins took over as lead singer as well following Gabriel’s departure in 1975.
He left Genesis in 1996 to focus strictly on his solo work, but the brand briefly carried on with Ray Wilson as new frontman until 2000. The 1980s lineup of Genesis reunited for the Turn It On Again Tour in 2007 and contributed to the BBC documentary Genesis: Together and Apart in 2014.
Collins has received numerous industry awards as well, including a Best Original Song Oscar for “You’ll Be in My Heart” from Disney’s Tarzan soundtrack. He has won eight Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Genesis in 2010.
Jane Fonda attends the 2025 Producers Guild Awards at Fairmont Century Plaza on February 08, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.Taylor Hill/FilmMagic
Jane Fonda has revealed that she nearly quit acting after a disastrous experience on her first-ever movie.
“I had decided after my first movie, Tall Story, that I was going to quit while I was ahead,” Fonda, 87, revealed to Variety in an interview published on Wednesday, February 19.
Jane comes from one of Hollywood’s most famous acting families – her father, Henry Fonda, won an Oscar for On Golden Pond in 1982, and brother Peter Fonda cowrote and starred in 1969’s counterculture classic Easy Rider. Jane faced lofty expectations when she started her career on Broadway in 1960, before making her film debut in Tall Story that same year.
The romantic comedy cast Jane opposite Anthony Perkins in an adaptation of Howard Nemerov’s 1957 novel The Homecoming Game, but working with director Joshua Logan was not pleasant for her.
“I didn’t enjoy the experience. And before we started shooting, Josh Logan, the director-producer, said to me, ‘You should have your jaw broken so your cheeks aren’t so puffy.’ Stuff like that really builds a girl’s confidence,” she recalled in her new interview.
Jane walked away from Tall Story feeling unsure about her future as an actress, before an unexpected offer to star in 1962 drama Walk on the Wild Side changed her life forever.
Jane Fonda and Anthony Perkins in ‘Tall Story’.Everett Collection / Everett Collection
“That made all the difference in the world. [Her Walk on the Wild Side role] was a real character,” she said. “She wasn’t some cheerleader from next door that I had a hard time relating to. She rode around in a boxcar and then she becomes a hooker in a high-class brothel run by Barbara Stanwyck. And I had a blast.”
Jane earned her first Golden Globe Award, for Most Promising Newcomer, for Walk on the Wild Side. Throughout the 1960s, she racked up a string of acclaimed performances in Western comedy Cat Ballou, Neil Simon‘s film adaptation of his hit play Barefoot in the Park and, of course, 1968’s science fiction classic Barbarella.
She became one of Hollywood’s most enduring stars into the present day, which is why she will be presented with the Life Achievement Award by Julia Louis-Dreyfus at the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday, February 23.
“Given annually to an actor who fosters the ‘finest ideals of the acting profession,’ the SAG Life Achievement Award will be the latest of Fonda’s esteemed catalog of international industry and public distinctions recognizing her masterful performances and impactful activism,” SAG-AFTRA confirmed via its website in October 2024. “Jane Fonda’s acclaimed career, which spans six decades, has captivated audiences with her versatile performances across film, television and theater, while using her platform to champion critical social causes.”
Jane responded to being chosen for the prestigious award by saying that there’s “no honor like the one bestowed on you by your peers.”
“SAG-AFTRA works tirelessly to protect the working actor and to ensure that union members are being treated equitably in all areas, and I am proud to be a member as we continue to work to protect generations of performers to come,” she added.
Kristen Bell hosts the 31st annual Screen Actors Guild Awards live on Netflix Sunday at 8 p.m. ET from the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall in Los Angeles.
“Bold and disruptive. Unpredictable and dangerous. The Final Boss returns,” Johnson, 52, teased via X on Thursday, February 20.
The Fast & Furious star subsequently confirmed on social media that he would be attending WWE SmackDown on the USA Network on Friday, February 21, airing live from the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans.
WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque hinted that Johnson, a.k.a “The Rock,” could have a huge impact on the road to WrestleMania 41, which is taking place at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Saturday, April 19, and Sunday, April 20.
“Strap in,” Levesque warned. “When The Final Boss shows up at this time of year, the audience knows absolutely anything is possible. Everything could change in an instant.”
Johnson continued to hype his unexpected SmackDown appearance on Instagram where he hinted at a showdown with an unnamed WWE superstar.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson during Night One of WrestleMania 40 at Lincoln Financial Field on April 06, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images
“The Final Boss is coming to handle business, deliver a big beautiful gift to the city of New Orleans and f— up a certain someone’s life with the Final Boss gospel,” he wrote.
Rumors persist that Johnson could announce on SmackDown that New Orleans will be the site of WWE WrestleMania 42 in 2026.
Johnson was one of many celebrity guests at WWE’s Monday Night Raw premiere on Netflix on January 6, where he seemingly made peace with WWE Undisputed Champion Cody Rhodes. WWE had hinted at a potential WrestleMania main event match between the pair for this year, though that now seems unlikely due to Johnson’s busy filming schedule.
Also on January’s Netflix premiere, Johnson briefly returned to the ring to celebrate his cousin Roman Reigns‘ victory over archnemesis Solo Sikoa in a “Tribal Combat Match.” Johnson and Reigns teamed together for a victory over Rhodes and Seth Rollins at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia for WrestleMania 40 in April 2024.
Johnson joined the board of directors for WWE’s parent company TKO in January 2024 as part of a deal that also allowed him to gain ownership of his wrestling nickname “The Rock.”
For the last 15 years, Johnson has been focused on his acting career. Earlier in February, Deadline reported that Johnson signed on to star with Leonardo DiCaprio and Emily Blunt in legendary director Martin Scorsese‘s next movie. The untitled crime drama, which is being written by journalist Nick Bilton, takes place in 1960s Hawaii as a ruthless mafia boss battles rivals trying to encroach on his territory.
Johnson’s MMA drama The Smashing Machine is also coming to theaters later this year, in addition to him reprising his Moana role as the demigod Maui in Disney’s live-action remake of the animated classic, due for release in 2026. Newcomer Catherine Laga‘aia is taking on the title role in the Moana reboot, while John Tui plays Moana’s father, Chief Tui, and Frankie Adams has been cast as Moana’s mother, Sina.
The Rock’s reemergence on WWE TV coincides with his long-time nemesis John Cena‘s retirement tour, which is set to run through the end of 2025. Cena is next expected to wrestle at Elimination Chamber: Toronto at the Rogers Centre on March 1, where he will compete against CM Punk, Drew McIntyre, Logan Paul, Damian Priest and Rollins to earn a championship main event at WrestleMania 41.
WWE SmackDown airs on Fridays at 8p.m. ET on the USA Network.
A major shift in the James Bond franchise’s future has sent shockwaves through Hollywood.
Producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson announced a “joint venture” on Thursday, February 20, that will see Amazon MGM Studios taking control over the search for the next Bond actor as well as leading production of all future films. The Bond franchise has been in a state of flux ever since Daniel Craig walked away following the release of 2021’s No Time to Die, and while there have been many rumors about who will play 007 next, a long-expected casting announcement never materialized. Now, it appears that Broccoli and Wilson will step back entirely from the search for the new Bond, leaving fans wondering if their beloved spy movies are in safe hands.
With many questions still in the air, Us Explains what we know so far about the future of James Bond:
The Announcement
On February 20, Hollywood reeled over the shocking news that Broccoli and her half-brother Wilson signed a “joint venture” for the Bond franchise with Amazon MGM Studios. Amazon left no mystery about who would be making decisions going forward, confirming in a press release that it would take “creative control of the James Bond franchise following closing of the transaction.”
Amazon’s takeover was particularly galling for many because Broccoli’s father and Wilson’s stepfather, Albert R. “Cubby” Broccoli, first gained the rights to author Ian Fleming‘s spy novels in the early 1960s in a partnership with coproducer Harry Saltzman. Cubby brought his children into the family business, before eventually turning over stewardship of Bond to them entirely after the release of 1989’s License to Kill (starring Timothy Dalton as 007). Cubby died in June 1996.
There were persistent rumors that Wilson was looking to retire from filmmaking following the release of No Time to Die, yet Barbara had been actively involved in the casting search for the new Bond actor and was expected to play a crucial role in development on the next movie. The two producers first inked a deal with Amazon in 2022 to distribute all of the James Bond films.
In a statement announcing her deal with Amazon, Barbara said her life had been “dedicated to maintaining and building upon the extraordinary legacy that was handed” to her by her late father.
“I have had the honour of working closely with four of the tremendously talented actors who have played 007 and thousands of wonderful artists within the industry. With the conclusion of No Time to Die and Michael retiring from the films, I feel it is time to focus on my other projects,” she said.
For his part, Wilson confirmed that he would be “stepping back from producing the James Bond films to focus on art and charitable projects.”
“Barbara and I agree, it is time for our trusted partner, Amazon MGM Studios, to lead James Bond into the future,” he added.
The Backlash
Part of the reason many James Bond fans are nervous about this change in leadership is the tone used in Amazon’s press release on February 20. Amazon MGM made it completely clear it would have “creative control” of Bond — meaning its executives would theoretically be the ones choosing the new cast, story lines and creative team.
“Since his theatrical introduction over 60 years ago, James Bond has been one of the most iconic characters in filmed entertainment,” Mike Hopkins, head of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, said. “We are grateful to the late Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman for bringing James Bond to movie theatres around the world, and to Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli for their unyielding dedication and their role in continuing the legacy of the franchise that is cherished by legions of fans worldwide. We are honoured to continue this treasured heritage, and look forward to ushering in the next phase of the legendary 007 for audiences around the world.”
Many fans and critics have argued that Amazon could dilute James Bond by pursuing unnecessary spinoffs and streaming series. The Wall Street Journalreported that the working relationship between Barbara and Amazon MGM had been fraught in the past, including the producer allegedly dismissing Amazon executives as “f— idiots” at one point. Amazon MGM was purportedly interested in pursuing multiple TV spin-offs, potentially for M’s secretary Miss Moneypenny or a possible female Bond streaming series.
Barbara publicly pushed back against the possibility of a female Bond in 2021, telling the U.K.’s Press Agency that the character should always be male.
“James Bond is a male character. I hope that there will be many, many films made with women, for women, by women, about women,” she said. “I don’t think we have to take a male character and have a woman portray him. So yes, I see him as male. And I’m sort of in denial, I would love for Daniel to continue forever.”
The two parties collaborated on their first streaming spinoff in 2023 with 007: Road to a Million, in which Bond super-fans competed in an Amazing Race-style trek across famous locations from the novels and films. Brian Cox played a brand new Bond villain for Road to a Million, and Amazon showed confidence in the format’s future by renewing the competition show for a second season in September 2023.
There was a strong reaction to Amazon’s takeover among those close to the Broccoli family, with one confidant notified of the sale by Barbara telling Deadline the deal was like experiencing “a death in the family.”
Others close to the situation argued that Barbara’s lack of success in finding Craig’s replacement also signaled that a change in leadership was inevitable.
“I do think that it’s possible that if God had sent us a totally no-brainer Bond in the last couple of years, then it might be a different situation,” one insider admitted.
The most recent 007 actor responded to Amazon taking over the Bond series by ducking any controversy entirely, instead focusing on the accolades of the Broccoli family.
“My respect, admiration and love for Barbara and Michael remain constant and undiminished,” Craig told CNN in a statement. “I wish Michael a long, relaxing (and well-deserved) retirement and whatever ventures Barbara goes on to do, I know they will be spectacular and I hope I can be part of them.”
Craig publicly announced that No Time to Die would be his final outing as Bond long before the release of the film in September 2021. He spoke often about the physical and emotional toll of each Bond movie, especially as he felt he was unable to take on other substantial projects during the 15 years he played the MI6 agent.
“Early on with Bond, I thought I had to do other work, but I didn’t. I was becoming a star, whatever that means, and people wanted me in their films. Incredible,” he told The Sunday Times in December 2024. “Most actors are out of work for large chunks so you take your job offers — but they left me empty. Then, bottom line, I got paid. I was so exhausted at the end of a Bond it would take me six months to recover emotionally. I always had the attitude that life must come first and, when work came first for a while, it strung me out.”
No Time to Die left little likelihood for Craig to change his mind, as Bond was shown seemingly sacrificing his life to save his love interest Dr. Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux) and her daughter from bioterrorist Lyutsifer Safin’s (Rami Malek) deadly drones.
Craig has since earned rave reviews for his performance in director Luca Guadagnino‘s 2024 period romantic drama, Queer, and will reprise his role as Detective Benoit Blanc in Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, due for release on Netflix later this year.
Tim Gunn has revealed the true story behind his unforgettable Project Runway catchphrase “make it work.”
“I’ll tell you the catalyst for [‘make it work’],” Gunn, 71, told People in an interview published on February 20. “I was teaching a two-semester-long class – 30 weeks – with the same students in their senior year. They were developing their portfolios, which had to correspond to the collection they were creating in a different class. And I had a student, extremely talented, who in April – this was in September, and now it’s April – declared, ‘I’m going to start all over.’ [I said], ‘No, you’re not.'”
The Emmy Award winner, who confirmed that his motivational phrase was developed while he mentored fashion students at the Parsons School of Design, remembered using this experience with a discouraged student as a way to motivate his whole class to keep pursuing their dreams.
“[I told the student to] come up with a diagnosis of what’s troubling you, and then a prescription for how to ‘make it work’ — how to move forward with this,” he recalled. “I said to her and to the rest of the class, ‘If I just let you abandon something and move on to something else, maybe it will work, but maybe it won’t. But if you really sit down and critically analyze what’s happening – and as I said a moment ago, come up with a prescription for how to ‘make it work’ – you have just enhanced your whole internal toolbox, your problem-solving abilities.”
Gunn continued: “Life is filled with problems you’re going to need to solve. If you can figure out how to deal with that and how to make things work, it just makes you so much more agile and capable of really conquering the world.”
The saying has clearly resonated, as Gunn shared that he still hears it often, telling People, “[Someone said it to me] just about two hours ago!”
Gunn put his own advice to excellent use for 16 seasons inspiring and mentoring young designers on Project Runway, until he left the show alongside host Heidi Klum in 2018. The pair reunited for three seasons of design competition Making the Cut on Prime Video from 2020 to 2022.
Supermodel Karlie Kloss and designer Christian Siriano replaced the duo on Project Runway from season 17 onward, but Us Weekly confirmed in January that Klum was returning as Runway‘s host for its season 21 move to Freeform.
Earlier in February, Gunn told People that he “wasn’t asked back” as part of the Disney-owned Freeform’s revamp of the series.
“[The producers] went back to [my agent] and said, ‘Well, we’ve thought about it and we’d be willing to offer Tim a small cameo in one episode.’ What do I do? Wave from a bus? As the designers are going into Mood [Fabrics]?” he joked. “Heidi comes to see me at the retirement home and we play croquet?”
The long-time Project Runway mentor continued: “So no thank you. And as Heidi would say, you’re either in or you’re out. And I’m out. So I wasn’t asked to join.”
Gunn conceded that he was initially “devastated, then kind of humiliated” to be snubbed by the show, but later made peace with the closing of a chapter in his life.
“Unfortunately, I know you’ll be unhappy, Whoopi is not here with us,” Joy Behar announced to start off The View on Wednesday, February 19.
Behar, 82, took over as moderator on The View for episodes airing on Wednesday and Thursday, February 20, because Goldberg had come down with the flu.
Announcing that Goldberg, 69, would miss a second straight day on the talk show, Behar told viewers on Thursday: “Whoopi is still out with the flu. It’s going around, be careful. We hope you’re feeling better, Whoopi. Come back soon.”
Behar also recently skipped multiple episodes of The View this month while preparing for the launch of her Off-Broadway show My First Ex-Husband, which is now playing at the MMAC Theater in New York City.
ABC
There have been some notable instances of Goldberg missing The View over the years, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. She was out when her cohosts returned from holiday break in January 2022 because she’d tested positive for the virus and was experiencing “very, very mild” symptoms.
In September 2023, Goldberg had to sit out of The View‘s season 27 premiere because she’d once again caught COVID. Behar was given the responsibility of telling viewers about Goldberg’s absence in that instance as well.
“As you can see, Whoopi is not here. She has COVID,” Behar informed The View‘s studio audience. “Yes, it’s back. It’s back! But she’s on the mend. She’s on the tail end and she’ll probably be back this week. But sorry she’s not here, for those of you who were looking forward to seeing her.”
Whoopi took some personal time away from The View in 2023 to meet Pope Francis at the Vatican, later joking on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon that she’d even offered him a role in Sister Act 3.
“I went to see him and he actually seems to be a bit of a fan,” the actress reported to host Jimmy Fallon. “Sister Act, hello?!”
Prior to her most recent health scare, Goldberg interrupted The View on February 5 to warn viewers that her likeness was being used without permission to promote a diet drug.
“I’m giving everybody a heads-up,” she announced. “There is a phony weight loss ad floating around online, on Instagram, that has me [with an] AI mouth saying all kinds of stuff.”
The View moderator asked her fans to ignore the “phony” ads: “Do not indulge in this, do not look at this. Just get rid of it, because I don’t know what it is. I had nothing to do with it, and I don’t want y’all thinking that this is coming from me.”
The View recently announced a brand-new spinoff that will allow fans to keep up with Goldberg’s cohosts Behar, Sara Haines, Sunny Hostin, Ana Navarro and Alyssa Farah Griffin seven days a week.
The Weekend View features the show’s Friday panel, sans Goldberg, discussing “Hot Topics” that didn’t make it into the weekday episodes. Viewers can catch The Weekend View on ABC News Now on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
“In addition to having its most-watched linear season in four years, The View is finding success meeting viewers wherever they get their content,” executive producer Brian Teta said in a statement. “From podcasts to YouTube, and now with new exclusive streaming content for the weekend on ABC News Live.”
The View airs Mondays through Fridays on ABC, while streaming spinoff The Weekend View airs on ABC News Now Saturdays at 7:30 a.m. ET and Sundays at 9:30 a.m. ET.
Robert De Niro has revealed the true story behind one of the most iconic scenes from director Martin Scorsese‘s 1976 thriller Taxi Driver.
“Some of the best stuff, not always, is when it’s improvised,” De Niro, 81, revealed on Live with Kelly and Mark on Thursday, February 20.
The acclaimed actor terrified generations of movie lovers with his portrayal of unhinged taxi driver Travis Bickle, who, in one pivotal scene, stood in front of a mirror and whipped out a gun in an imagined confrontation.
“You talkin’ to me? You talkin’ to me? You talkin’ to me? Then who the hell else are you talkin’ to? You talkin’ to me? Well I’m the only one here. Who the f— do you think you’re talking to?” Bickle asks his nonexistent foe.
During his chat with Live hosts Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos, De Niro confirmed that the Taxi Driver mirror scene was at least partially improvised.
“The producer [of the film] … said on some show that Marty had said it was all improvised. We had something [on the page], I forget exactly but Marty remembers a lot better than I do,” he admitted.
Ripa, 54, suggested that the partially-improvised scene has become synonymous with De Niro, despite his many memorable roles over a 50-plus year career.
Live with Kelly & Mark/YouTube
“It seemed right,” De Niro said of the mirror scene, before adding: “[It was] done spontaneously. You don’t know what’s going to [happen]. That’s the fun of working, especially with someone like Marty Scorsese. It’s nice to be able to go here and there, go off, following the scene or the thrust of the story, but you can go here and there. You never know when that stuff is usable.”
De Niro received a Best Actor Oscar nomination for Taxi Driver, though the award went to the late Peter Finch for his portrayal of rebellious newsman Howard Beale in Network. Travis Bickle was later named the 30th greatest movie villain of all time in the American Film Institute’s AFI 100 Years…100 Heroes & Villains poll in 2003.
Columbia Pictures
In the early 2000s, De Niro and Scorsese confirmed they were working on a Taxi Driver sequel with screenwriter Paul Schrader, though the project was eventually scrapped in 2013 because Scorsese was not satisfied with the script.
Taxi Driver continues to be a cultural touchstone nearly 50 years after its original release, having memorably inspired Arthur Fleck’s (Joaquin Phoenix) descent into madness in director Todd Phillips‘ 2019 film Joker. Another famous De Niro role, deranged standup comedian Rupert Pupkin in Scorsese’s 1983 thriller The King of Comedy, was an influence on Joker as well.
More recently, De Niro attended Saturday Night Live‘s SNL 50 event on Sunday, February 16, where he was featured in a “Debbie Downer” sketch with Jimmy Fallon, Ayo Edebiri and Drew Barrymore. De Niro channeled some of his infamous villain roles by throttling Rachel Dratch‘s Debbie Downer before being pulled away by Fallon.
Live with Kelly and Mark airs Mondays through Fridays in syndication.
Ronnie Platt, frontman for veteran rock band Kansas, has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer.
“[I’ll] go through some rehab time and be right back in the saddle,” Platt, 64, promised via Facebook on Sunday, February 16.
The singer shared with his fans that he has a treatment plan in place and a positive prognosis, vowing to put cancer behind him soon.
“For all of you asking, Tuesday I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer but before everyone gets all excited, it has a 99% survival rate, it has not spread. It’s contained to my thyroid,” he wrote. “I just have to have my thyroid removed … I have some absolutely amazing people going to bat for me!! As it has been put to me, this is just a bump in the road and will be behind me very soon! so everyone please CARRY ON!”
Kansas announced via Instagram on Wednesday, February 19, that they were canceling scheduled shows in New Orleans on Friday, February 21 and in Lake Charles on Saturday, March 1 due to “band illness and doctor advisement.”
“The band apologizes for the inconvenience and hopes to be back on the road soon,” Kansas’ social media statement concluded.
The group’s manager J.R. Rees subsequently told Ultimate Classic Rock that Kansas will be pausing all concert plans for the foreseeable future in order to support Platt.
“Our goal is to be back on the road as soon as possible. Right now, we’re all focused on supporting Ronnie through this,” Rees said.
Platt joined Kansas as its new frontman in 2014, following the retirement of original vocalist Steve Walsh. Walsh sang the recorded versions of Kansas’ timeless hits “Carry On Wayward Son” and “Dust in the Wind.”
In 2014, Platt described himself as a Kansas fan “first and foremost” and resisted being called the legendary Walsh’s “replacement.”
“I’m a blue collar guy that rides a Harley and I’ve spent most of my adult life earning a living by driving a truck. I’m a long time fan of the music and have always looked up to Steve Walsh,” he said in a statement. “My goal is not to replace Steve; no one can do that. It is my goal and responsibility to sustain the integrity that is Kansas.”
Platt continued: “This is a lifelong dream and I would like to thank [band members] Phil [Ehart], Rich [Williams], Billy [Greer], and David [Ragsdale] for the opportunity. Yes, I’ve got the job, but now it’s time to earn it….and I take nothing for granted that has been given to me. My performance in Kansas will be how I’ve always performed, with passion and enthusiasm.”
After signing on as Kansas’s new frontman, Platt made his album debut on 2016’s The Prelude Implicit and also sang lead on their 2020 record The Absence of Presence.
Platt worked as a truck driver before joining a latter-day incarnation of the Kansas City, Missouri-based rock band Shooting Star. When Walsh stepped back from Kansas, Platt sent the band’s lead guitarist Williams a Facebook message asking for “some consideration.”
“It was all a matter of four or five days [before they hired me]. After they revived me, put the paddles on my chest, I got to work,” he jokingly told PBS Panhandle in 2017.
“Advantage of not attending – got to see every second of concert and show on TV,” Aykroyd, 72, wrote via X on Wednesday, February 19.
The former Not Ready for Prime Time Player was perhaps the most notable absence during Sunday’s NBC show, as his living costars Chevy Chase, Garrett Morris, Jane Curtin and Laraine Newman were all in attendance for the anniversary celebration. Aykroyd did not clarify why he’d missed SNL 50 in his X Post, though he did offer a toast to the “triumphant SNL 50th.”
“Quote from my children: ‘Look at daddy’s smile!’ Had it from start to finish. Congratulations Lorne [Michaels]. Well done as usual,” he wrote.
Aykroyd’s representative confirmed to Puck News last week that the former ‘Weekend Update’ coanchor and Blues Brothers star wouldn’t ‘be there” for SNL 50 at Rockefeller Center in New York City. Bill Hader, Dana Carvey, Robert Downey Jr. and Joan Cusack were among other notable former cast members missing from the show.
Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images
The Canadian comedy legend took part in the promotion of SNL 50 by doing an interview with NPR’s Fresh Air about the creation of the Blues Brothers. He also posted via X numerous times about potential comedy pairings at SNL 50 in the days leading up to the event.
“Cracking a Head with pride at having been a co-founder of SNL along with everyone we were together with in those four years, five decades ago,” he wrote on Friday, February 14. ” This telecast is as historical as the next moon landing. Comedy stars of our age all gathered under the aegis of America’s greatest living impresario, my boss Lorne Michaels. People it’s friggin’ Holy!!”
Aykroyd was featured in numerous retrospective clips during SNL 50, whereas a few other original cast members appeared in new segments. Newman starred in a pre-taped sketch with Pete Davidson‘s recurring character Chad, as she reminisced about her time in Studio 8H in the 1970s.
Garrett Morris received a standing ovation when he introduced the 1978 short film Don’t Look Back in Anger, in which an elderly John Belushi visited the graves of his costars. The film was especially poignant because Belushi was the first original SNL star to pass away at age 33 in March 1982.
Bill Murray, who replaced Chase in Saturday Night Live‘s cast in season 2, appeared during ‘Weekend Update’ to rank all of the segment’s former anchors in tongue-in-cheek fashion. Another touching moment occurred during the closing credits when Curtin and Newman held up a picture of their late cast mate Gilda Radner, who died from ovarian cancer in 1989.
The celebratory TV special featured countless memorable moments for SNL fans, including Jack Nicholson making a rare public appearance to introduce a song from Adam Sandler. Ryan Reynolds poked fun at the ongoing legal battle between his wife Blake Lively and her It Ends With Us costar Justin Baldoni.
During an audience Q&A segment with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, Reynolds was asked how he was doing. “[I’m doing] great. Why, what have you heard?” Reynolds joked in response. Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman has since criticized Reynolds for making light of their legal battle.
Saturday Night Live returns live March 1 at 11.30p.m. ET on NBC with guest host Shane Gillis and musical guest Tate McRae.
Fans of ABC’s 1990s “TGIF” programming block with Full House, Boy Meets World and more are in for a huge shock.
“[TGIF] is not ‘Thank God It’s Friday,'” Boy Meets World star Danielle Fishel confirmed on the latest episode of her “Pod Meets World” podcast on Monday, February 17.
Confusion about what the initials in “TGIF” stood for has been going for decades, with fans of classic sitcoms like Family Matters, Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Step by Step understandably assuming the acronym meant “Thank God It’s Friday.”
Fishel and her “Pod Meets World” cohosts Rider Strong and Will Friedle finally cleared up the mystery once and for all this week when they clarified with “TGIF” creator and executive producer Jim Janicek that the acronym actually stood for “Thank Goodness It’s Funny.”
“We were [first] talking about things like the ‘Friday Fun Club,’” Janicek revealed on the podcast. “There’s a whole list [of brand names] somewhere I probably could dig up, but I remember that one. You know, ‘It’s Friday Night.’ Lots of little short-isms.”
Janicek went on: “I don’t recall exactly where [‘TGIF’] came from. That was on our list!”
Janicek remembered ABC being uncertain when “TGIF” was pitched because it could have sparked a legal dispute with chain restaurant TGI Friday’s.
ABC
“We were animating the open. And then, [ABC executives] Stu Brower and Bob Iger called and said, ‘We’ve landed on TGIF. We wanna call it TGIF,'” he said. “So that’s where we got the name, and we started animating those letters into the open and went from there.”
The TV executive went on: “Bob, I believe, came up with ‘Thank Goodness It’s Funny,’ to avoid any conflict with any restaurant.”
ABC debuted “TGIF” on September 22, 1989, with a two-hour block of youth-centric sitcoms starting at 8 p.m. with Full House, followed by Family Matters, Perfect Strangers and Just the Ten of Us in subsequent weeks. As the brand grew more popular in the 1990s, hit shows such as Step by Step, Dinosaurs and Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper were added to “TGIF” while Full House and others were cycled out to air on other weeknights.
Janicek told “Pod Meets World” that “TGIF” was successful because it specifically catered to families and young people on a night where they’d usually go out.
“It should be family, family, family. We could really nail this,” the executive remembered telling ABC. “I made the comment in [a meeting with ABC] … they were talking about broadcasting and all the different dimensions of it, but I said … ‘Why aren’t we considering narrow-casting a bit toward a very specific audience? Like a lot of these so-called cable networks are starting to do.'”
ABC
Janicek remarked that once “TGIF” proved to be a ratings hit, ABC was largely “hands off” in allowing him to run the branding as he saw fit.
“TGIF” was retired after the 1999-2000 TV season, where Boy Meets World, The Hughleys, Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Making the Band made up the final lineup. ABC has attempted to revamp the brand at various points, including referring to Shonda Rhimes dramas Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder as “TGIT (Thank God It’s Thursday)” from 2014 to 2018.
ABC most recently tried to revive “TGIF” during the 2017-2018 TV season where it used the branding for family sitcoms Fresh Off the Boat and Speechless leading into Fred Savage and Ricky Gervais‘ short-lived game show Child Support. The network has since returned to using “ABC Friday Night” branding for Shark Tank and 20/20 to lead off its weekend schedule.
Former Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon has condemned his bandmates for touring without him.
“They’re trying to trivialize the whole show to get away with karaoke but in the long term I think you’ll see who has the value and who doesn’t,” Lydon, 69, told The I Paper in an interview published on Friday, February 13.
Sex Pistols members Paul Cook, Steve Jones and Glen Matlock recruited vocalist Frank Carter for a 29-date tour of the U.K., Europe, South America and Australia running through 2025, with U.S. dates expected to be added later in the year. Carter, 40, first joined the remaining Pistols for two fundraising concerts in England in 2024, leading to a full-scale tour being announced.
The always-outspoken Lydon, a.k.a Johnny Rotten, continued to blast the new Sex Pistols in his latest interview, in which he admitted to feeling “annoyed” by their decision to reunite without him.
“I just thought, ‘They’re absolutely going to kill all that was good with the Pistols by eliminating the point and the purpose of it all.’ I didn’t write those words [lyrics] lightly,” he argued.
Glen Matlock, Paul Cook and Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols perform at O2 Forum Kentish TownGus Stewart/Redferns/Getty Images
The singer added: “I’ve never sold my soul to make a dollar. It’s the Catholic in me — that guilt I don’t want to trip. Like Nancy Reagan, I’ve always found it easy to just say ‘no.’ If something challenges your heart and your soul and your mind and your sense of purity of what is right and wrong in the world, then just say no. Which, according to the corporate thinking which riddles the music business earns me the title of ‘difficult to work with’ — a title of which I’m very proud.”
When the reunion project — billed as “Frank Carter and Paul Cook, Steve Jones, Glen Matlock of the Sex Pistols” — was announced last year, guitarist Jones, 69, insisted that Pistols fans have been clamoring to see them together on stage again.
“There was an overwhelming response on social media from fans asking to play different parts of the country. So guess what? It will be done,” he said in August 2024. “We will be tighter than a rat’s arse by the time we get to Kentish Town.”
Glen Matlock, Paul Cook and Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols perform at O2 Forum Kentish TownJim Dyson/Getty Images
Jones later admitted on the “Rockonteurs Podcast” in November 2024 that he was unwilling to work with Lydon after disagreements on their previous reunion tours in 1996 and 2008.
“It started to become a drag again, in the end, like it always does,” he confessed. “I couldn’t do that again, at this time… It’s got to be chill vibes. I can’t play a part of being ‘Mr. Nice Guy’ just to keep the ball rolling, you know?”
Music impresario Malcolm McLaren personally selected vocalist Lydon, guitarist Jones, drummer Cook and bassist Matlock as his “band of sexy young assassins” in 1975, with Sid Vicious replacing Matlock at the height of the group’s commercial success in 1977.
Amidst tensions between McLaren and the group, Lydon announced on stage in 1978 that the Sex Pistols would be splitting, though his bandmates continued to record new material without him into the following year. In February 1979, Vicious died of a heroin overdose at age 21 after being arrested in connection with the alleged murder of his girlfriend Nancy Spungen.
Lydon formed groundbreaking post-Pistols group Public Image Ltd in 1978, but shocked fans when he agreed to reunite with his former bandmates for the cynically-titled Filthy Lucre Tour in 1996. He last performed with the group for their Combine Harvester Tour in 2008.
Paul Simon has announced that he will be returning to touring after retiring in 2018.
Simon, 83, stepped back from live performing due to hearing loss, but confirmed on Tuesday, February 18, that he will be back on the road for a 52-date A Quiet Celebration Tour to support his 2023 album Seven Psalms. The vocalist will begin his upcoming tour in New Orleans at the Saenger Theater for two nights on April 4 and 5.
Simon’s A Quiet Celebration Tour is scheduled to run through August with stops in Nashville, Chicago, Toronto, Boston, New York City and a final three shows in Seattle from July 31 through August 3 . Tickets for the entire tour will go on sale on Friday, February 21 on Simon’s website, where fans can also find a full range of dates and venues for the trek.
According to a press release, Simon personally selected the venues for A Quiet Celebration Tour to ensure proper acoustics. His production team collaborated with the Stanford Initiative to Cure Hearing Loss to create a stage setup that wouldn’t impede Simon’s hearing further.
His 15th studio album Seven Psalms marked a return to music five years after giving up live performances. Simon only used acoustic instruments on the record, in addition to collaborating with a cappella octet Voces8 and his wife Edie Brickell.
ANDER GILLENEA/AFP via Getty Images
Simon has sporadically performed live over the last seven years, including at a Grammy Awards tribute to his career in April 2022 and on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in March 2024 to promote Seven Psalms.
Simon most recently performed at Saturday Night Live‘s 50th anniversary special on Sunday, February 16, where he opened the show by duetting with Sabrina Carpenter on the Simon & Garfunkel classic “Homeward Bound.”
His long-time musical partner Art Garfunkel confirmed in December 2024 that the pair were back on good terms after “a period of estrangement.”
“I know we met up recently for the first time in years,” Garfunkel told Live with Kelly and Mark. “We had a period of estrangement for some years until — he has a son that moved into the place that I live in and I knew I was going to run into Harper [Simon] and Harper set up a dinner and Paul and I hung out, first time in years. And it was very touching.”
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Simon & Garfunkel have had a notoriously rocky relationship since they formed a vocal duo briefly known as Tom & Jerry in 1956. The childhood friends frequently clashed over their artistic visions and decided to split permanently in 1970.
The pair have reunited numerous times over the past 55 years, including for a 1981 Central Park reunion concert that attracted more than 500,000 people. In 2015, Garfunkel placed the blame solely on Simon’s shoulders for splitting up the group.
“It was very strange. Nothing I would have done,” Garfunkel told The Telegraph of their split. “I want to open up about this. I don’t want to say any anti-Paul Simon things, but it seems very perverse to not enjoy the glory and walk away from it instead. Crazy. What I would have done is take a rest from Paul, because he was getting on my nerves. The jokes had run dry.”
Simon & Garfunkel last performed together in 2010 as part of an American Film Institute tribute to Mike Nichols, the acclaimed director who memorably used their music in 1967 movie The Graduate.
Jordin Sparks, Baylee Littrell.Paul Morigi/WireImage ; Courtesy of Baylee Littrell/Instagram
American Idol is arguably television’s biggest, most influential platform for emerging artists over the past 23 years – including relatives of some very famous faces.
From siblings of pop superstars to the children of Hollywood royalty, numerous Idol auditioners tried to carve out their own place in the spotlight. Some sailed through the audition rounds, while others never got that golden ticket to Hollywood. Idol season 23 will showcase a similar journey, as Backstreet Boys star Brian Littrell‘s son Baylee Littrellrecently auditioned.
Keep scrolling for the stories of Idol contestants who brought some extra star-power to the show:
In February 2025, Backstreet Boy Littrell’s 22-year-old son Baylee shared via Instagram that he would be auditioning for Idol‘s upcoming season. Baylee encouraged his social media followers to “tune in to see the season premiere” on March 9 to find out whether he impressed judges Luke Bryan, Lionel Richie and Carrie Underwood.
Brian told NBC’s TODAY that Baylee is ready for the spotlight because he grew up around the worldwide success of the Backstreet Boys.
“He was just texting me last night, going, ‘Dad, dude, how do you do this? Like, it’s hard work,’” Brian said on Friday, February 14. “He’s been busting his butt, and I’m super proud of him. He kind of gets a new sense of reality of what this is.”
The “I Want It That Way” singer went on: “He tells this joke about being at a convenience store or a drug store, and there was a Millennium album, in the casing of all these CDs. And he picks it up… and he was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, that’s my dad!’ And this was when he was, like, probably 7 or 8 years old.”
Baylee released his second collection of original music, titled EP Vol. One, in September 2022.
Emmy Russell
Monica Schipper/Getty Images
Russell revealed to judge Katy Perry during her season 22 Idol audition that her grandmother was legendary country music vocalist Loretta Lynn. Lynn, who died at age 90 in October 2022, was a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and received a Presidential Medal of Freedom from Barack Obama in 2013.
“She’s one of the biggest country music singers of all time, but to me she’s just Grandma,” Russell told Idol viewers.
After passing through the audition round with her original track “Skinny,” Russell made it to the Top 5 before being eliminated alongside Triston Harper one week before the Idol finals in May 2024. After her elimination aired, Russell graciously thanked her fans for supporting her throughout the competition.
“I’m just really feeling grateful. I didn’t make Top 3, but… that was God’s plan. That was funny because before I got eliminated, I think God told me, he was like, ‘Emmy, you’re not gonna be chosen by America, but I chose you,'” Russell said via Instagram.
Nikko Smith
Ray Mickshaw/WireImage
Nikko was one of the first celebrity relatives to make it on air, placing ninth overall in American Idol‘s fourth season in 2005. The son of Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith dazzled judge Simon Cowell with his cover of Stevie Wonder‘s “All I Do” during his audition.
Ozzie responded to his son’s success by admitting to St. Louis Magazine that any child of a celebrity faces “added pressure” in trying to live up to their parent’s success.
“I don’t think that’s fair to your kid,” Ozzie argued.
In October 2006, Nikko was picked to perform “The Star-Spangled Banner” before Game 4 of the World Series at Busch Stadium, where his father Ozzie played for 14 years with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Jordin Sparks
Paul Morigi/WireImage
Former New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys cornerback Phillippi Sparks‘ daughter Jordin took Idol by storm when she won the show at 17 years old in season 6. Phillippi told Sports Illustrated in 2007 that he was happy for his NFL career to be overshadowed by his daughter’s Idol success.
“What you want as a dad is for your kids to outdo you, and that’s what happened,” he told the outlet at the time. “Being Jordin Sparks’s dad is going to last a lot longer than being Phillippi Sparks, the football player.”
Phillippi joked that he may have played a bigger role in Jordin’s Idol victory than many viewers would have guessed.
“I sang from third grade to 12th grade. My mom had us in choir. I can hold a tune. Maybe that’s where Jordin got her rhythm from,” he teased.
Jordin parlayed her American Idol win into selling over two million copies of debut solo album in 2007 and hit No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart in 2008 with “No Air,” her duet with Chris Brown. She subsequently competed on Dancing With the Stars season 31 in 2022 and has starred in both In the Heights and Waitress on Broadway.
Claudia Conway
ABC/Christopher Willard
There was no shortage of controversy about Claudia’s American Idol audition in 2021, as she was the daughter of President Donald Trump‘s senior advisor Kellyanne Conway and one of the politician’s sharpest critics, pundit George Conway. The then-16-year-old Claudia got through to Hollywood after winning over skeptical judges Perry and Richie with her covers of Rihanna’s “Love on the Brain” and Adele‘s “When We Were Young,” but was eliminated before the live shows.
Claudia responded on TikTok to accusations that her Idol audition was nothing more than a publicity stunt for the ABC reality show.
“I’ve been singing my whole life, I grew up in musical theater,” she insisted. “Music has been one of the pillars in my life and I wouldn’t be here without it. I play about eight instruments. I’ve just been doing it since I could walk.”
Claudia continued: “[Idol] saw a video I posted as a joke of me singing and they were like, ‘Hey, do you want to audition?’ and I was like, ‘Oh s—, yeah.’ Because who wouldn’t? So everyone thinks that this is a publicity stunt or me trying to be like, whatever, but no – music is my passion.”
Since her time on American Idol, Claudia has pursued music, modeling and political advocacy. She memorably mocked her mom’s creation of the term “alternate facts” during the first Trump administration, dismissing the phrase as “definitely not a slay.”
Alex Preston
Kevin Winter/Getty Images
The singer-songwriter had his musical breakthrough on Idol‘s 13th season in 2014. Judges and viewers found out along the way that he is the cousin of country music star Jo Dee Messina.
Preston wowed the judges in his Salt Lake City audition with his original song “Fairytales,” before finishing third behind eventual winner Caleb Johnson and runner-up Jena Irene. Messina offered her support on social media when she heard he’d auditioned with an original song.
“American Idol. My cousin Alex Preston is gonna be on. He’s singing an original song. That’s gutsy,” she tweeted before Idol’s 2014 premiere.
After his time on Idol, Preston wrote songs for Messina and helped her crowdfund the production of her 2014 album Me by exceeding her goal of raising $100,000. Preston’s self-titled debut solo album was released in 2015 and was followed three years later by A Work in Progress.
Jane Carrey
Michael Becker / FOX
Hollywood legend Jim Carrey was his daughter Jane’s biggest supporter when she competed on American Idol‘s 11th season in 2012. Jane charmed viewers with her story of balancing her love of music with her responsibilities as a working mother.
“I’m a mom first, and a waitress on and off for like six years, probably, and a musician,” she told Idol fans in her introductory video. “I’ve been singing for as long as I can remember. I was in the school plays. I’m a huge ham. I’ve always liked to be on stage.”
Jane admitted that it had been difficult to “find her place” while growing up “underneath this huge shadow” of her famous father.
“The last name [Carrey] definitely helps and hurts,” she acknowledged. “I think there’s maybe this pressure to be ‘better.'”
Jane made it to Hollywood Week on Idol, but was cut from the competition before the live shows. She contributed music to her father’s 2014 movie Dumb and Dumber To and appeared in his TV series Kidding.
Lara Johnston
Doobie Brothers guitarist and vocalist Tom Johnston‘s daughter was an early standout on American Idol‘s 10th season in 2011. She auditioned in San Francisco with a reworked version of Stevie Wonder’s “All I Do” that earned three “yeses” from judges Steven Tyler, Jennifer Lopez and Randy Jackson. Lara was ultimately eliminated during the Hollywood round.
Idol wasn’t Lara’s first brush with reality TV — she finished in fifth place on Rock the Cradle, a competition for the children of famous musicians, in 2008. She has continued pursuing music, including working as a background vocalist for Gwen Stefani and Neil Young.
Ricco Barrino
FANTASIA/YouTube
Sometimes, Idol dreams run in the family! Season 3 winner Fantasia Barrino‘s older brother Ricco tried out for the reality competition in season 7. Ricco had the judges split with his performance of Sam Cooke‘s gospel anthem “A Change Is Gonna Come,” but he was later sent home.
Ricco signed with T.I.‘s Grand Hustle Records and has collaborated with hip hop icons Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Young Dolph and his sister Fantasia. He released the single “Only One” in 2024.
Michael Castro
Michael Becker / FOX
Season 7 alum Jason Castro‘s brother Michael had a strong start on Idol season 9 with his a cappella version of Gavin DeGraw‘s “In Love With A Girl.” Michael easily advanced to Hollywood, but was cut after clashing with fellow contestants in the group audition. (He insisted he’d been sick and wasn’t able to perform to the best of his abilities.)
Michael has self-released music since leaving Idol and even collaborated with his brother on a YouTube cover of Demi Lovato‘s hit “Give Your Heart A Break.”
“We’re both kind of closet Demi Lovato fans. She has a great voice,” Jason told The Hollywood Reporter of his sibling in 2013.
American Idol season 23 premieres on Sunday, March 9 at 8p.m. ET on ABC.
Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler is not expected to tour again despite recently returning to live performance.
“Steven cannot put himself under the rigors of doing a full worldwide tour because there’s a lot of pressure,” his friend Matt Sorum, of Guns N’ Roses, told WBAB Radio in an interview broadcast on Thursday, February 13.
Tyler, 76, returned to the stage on February 5 for only the second time since suffering a 2023 vocal injury, performing as part of Sorum’s Jam for Janie fundraising concert at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles. The event raised money for Janie’s Fund, the charity Tyler started to support girls and women who have suffered from abuse or neglect.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee covered classic rock hits, including four Aerosmith songs, alongside an all-star band featuring Fleetwood Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood, country music superstar Lainey Wilson, hard rock icon Joan Jett and 1980s rocker Billy Idol, among many others. Sorum served as musical director for Jam for Janie.
Sorum, 64, has since clarified that Tyler’s ability to perform a one-off show doesn’t mean that he will be able to tour with Aerosmith ever again.
“Steven sang for the first time in a year and a half,” Sorum told the radio station. “Some fans were a little bit, like, ‘Well, he can sing.’ Well, let me just explain what’s happening with Steven Tyler, because he’s a really good friend… He went out and sang. And it was a really big moment for him because he hurt himself bad. Now, is he gonna tour again? No, he’s not.”
The former Guns N’ Roses drummer suggested that Tyler is “a perfectionist” and would thus never commit to a tour if he wasn’t physically able.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
“If you’re not a singer, you wouldn’t understand what he goes through, but he’s 77 years old and he’s a perfectionist,” Sorum said. “And if he doesn’t sing correctly, it bothers him. And he’s not gonna put it on tape, like 80 percent of the people that are out there taking your money. He will not be on tape, and he won’t change the keys of the song. That’s just who he is. He’s, like, ‘I’m an artist. I’m a singer. This is my band. I’ve been doing this for 50 years. And if I can’t do it perfect, I can’t do it.’ And I respect that.”
Sorum went on: “I talked to him about it multiple times. I said, ‘So, just sing four or five songs tops.’ He says, ‘I can do that.’ And that was just one time. Maybe down the line, he’ll do it again and possibly do the same amount of songs.”
Tyler initially fractured his larynx during the third date on Aerosmith’s Peace Out: The Farewell Tour in September 2023. After multiple postponements, Aerosmith announced in August 2024 that they would retire from touring due to Tyler’s ongoing vocal issues.
“Steven’s voice is an instrument like no other. He has spent months tirelessly working on getting his voice to where it was before his injury,” Aerosmith said in a joint statement. “We’ve seen him struggling despite having the best medical team by his side. Sadly, it is clear that a full recovery from his vocal injury is not possible. We have made a heartbreaking and difficult, but necessary, decision — as a band of brothers — to retire from the touring stage.”
Aerosmith formed in Boston in 1970. Through the group’s historic career, the ‘Bad Boys from Boston’ sold more than 150 million albums and scored an astonishing 21 Top 40 hits on the U.S. Hot 100 Singles chart.
Tyler established the Janie’s Fund charity in 2015 and named the organization after Aerosmith’s 1989 single ‘Janie’s Got a Gun,’ which raised raised awareness about child abuse.
“It’s heartwarming and exciting and also incredibly nerve-wracking at the same time,” Gellar, 47, told People at the Makeup Artists & Hair Stylists Guild Awards on Saturday, February 15.
The actress confirmed earlier this month that she’s working with Oscar winner Chloé Zhao on a sequel show, where she would executive produce in addition to reprising her role as Buffy Summers in some capacity.
Gellar is not expected to be the lead of the new BuffyVerse project, as the script calls for a new Slayer to take a central role. This twist was made possible by Buffy‘s 2003 series finale where all of the potential Slayers in the world were woken up at once.
While attending the weekend gala at the Beverly Hilton, Gellar acknowledged that Buffy fans’ high expectations make reviving the property a challenge.
“I wish there was a better word than overwhelming,” she admitted.
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Gellar added that the Buffy spinoff is particularly “nerve-wracking” because everyone involved is determined to “do it right.”
“I think we have this team in place that is legendary, from Chloé Zhao to the Zucks [producers Nora and Lilla Zuckerman], to [producer] Gail Berman. And I think people are going to be pretty impressed,” she predicted.
The Buffy alum has long resisted getting involved in a potential reboot or remake. In 2019, Gellar told Us Weekly that she didn’t see a reason why Buffy needed rebooting.
“I think that reboots are great to introduce someone to a story that maybe they don’t know, to characters they don’t know,” Gellar told Us. “I think the amazing thing about Buffy’s legacy is that people are still watching and discovering and it still resonates. The fact that it’s still important to people, it sort of means that it lives on its own. That being said, if you have more story to tell, that’s great. I don’t feel that I do.”
Despite her reluctance, Gellar eventually agreed to take a meeting about a revival concept with Zhao and her “mentor” Berman that turned into several hours of reminiscing about Buffy The Vampire Slayer‘s immense impact. Once Gellar agreed to sign on as an executive producer, Hulu put the revival concept into development.
Everett Collection
“I have always listened to the fans and heard your desire to revisit Buffy and her world, but it was not something I could do unless I was sure we would get it right,” Gellar wrote to fans via Instagram earlier in February. “This has been a long process, and it’s not over yet. I promise you, we will only make this show if we know we can do it right. And I will tell you that we are on the path there.”
Gellar originally starred as the titular Slayer for seven seasons between 1997 and 2003. The TV series was itself a reboot of creator Joss Whedon‘s 1992 cult classic horror movie of the same name, in which Kristy Swanson played Buffy Summers. Whedon has no involvement in this new version of Buffy.
The Buffy TV series was so popular in its heyday that cast member David Boreanaz got his own spinoff, Angel, which aired from 1999 to 2004. The continuity from both shows has carried over into a long-running comic book series from Dark Horse.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer is available to stream on Disney+ and Hulu.
The Wanted’s Max George has revealed that he recently underwent a second heart surgery after having a pacemaker fitted in December 2024.
“It’s been a setback, but it’s just one of those things,” George, 36, wrote via his Instagram account on Monday, February 17.
George previously confirmed that he’d spent Christmas in the hospital after his doctors discovered “some issues with [his] heart.” While a pacemaker was put in at that time, George has since endured unexpected side effects from the procedure.
“A few weeks ago I had to go back into hospital after having some physical symptoms in my chest. It turned out that one of the leads was placed too far into my heart,” he wrote. “The second surgery took about 2 hours. Luckily, it was a success and they kindly let me listen to Oasis the whole time!”
The former boyband star assured his concerned fans that, although his latest procedure was a “setback,” he is now on the road to recovery.
“I’ve had a few complications the last couple of months but I’m having loads of tests to make sure everything is all good,” George explained. “It can take a few weeks / months for the inflammation of my heart to subside (myocarditis) but I’m sure I’ll be back on top form in no time!”
He concluded: “Thanks everyone for all your lovely messages and support through what’s been a pretty rough time. Means a lot.”
Speaking to The Sun on Monday, George shed more light on what led up to doctors deciding he’d need to go under the knife once again.
“I was trying to get back to good health but was still having a flickering sensation for weeks after I had my pacemaker fitted and it was gradually getting worse and worse,” he clarified. “When my heart rate went up, it was causing a shock in my heart which was making me jump all the time. My chest was shaking.”
Last month, George shared the serious nature of his heart condition, revealing he’d previously woken up with freezing blue hands and his throat nearly “closing up.” The musician was staying with his mother when his health started rapidly deteriorating.
“I couldn’t move my arms and the worst feeling was I felt like my throat was closing up. It felt like someone had their hands around my neck,” he remembered. “Thank God I stayed at Mum’s house — she saved my life.”
The “All Time Low” singer said he feared “[he] was going to die” and even “wrote a will” before his doctors were finally able to perform a pacemaker procedure.
Recalling his euphoric feeling after emerging from surgery, George said: “I was like, ‘Holy s—, I feel alive again,’ like it was a really nice feeling. It’d been so hard being away from [girlfriend MaisieSmith], but she climbed on the bed, obviously she lay on the other side of my chest to my op, and put her head on me. We just had a cuddle for a couple of hours while I talked about football and we treated it like normal. I could feel butterflies again next to her.”
George and Smith have been dating since 2022. Smith, 23, was a child actress on the long-running BBC soap EastEnders and finished as runner-up on Strictly Come Dancing — the U.K.’s version of Dancing With the Stars — in 2022.
Prior to his current relationship, George was involved with future Fool Me Once star Michelle Keegan in 2010. He later dated Lindsay Lohan in 2012 and swimsuit model Nina Agdal in 2013.
His former band, The Wanted, scored 10 U.K. Top 10 hits before they split in 2014. The Wanted reunited in 2021 following bandmate Tom Parker‘s diagnosis with an inoperable brain tumour. Parker died in March 2022 at age 33.
The And Just Like That… star attended the SNL 50 gala with husband Matthew Broderick on Sunday, February 16, in New York City. The couple were invited as former SNL guest hosts, with Parker having appeared in season 20 and Broderick guest starring twice before in seasons 14 and 23.
Parker subsequently shared video footage she’d shot from the balcony overlooking “home base” at Studio 8H, where dozens of former SNL hosts and cast members gathered to pay tribute to producer Lorne Michaels at the end of the special.
Martin Short can be seen in Parker’s footage saluting Michaels’ 50 years of contributions to comedy, as the likes of Paul McCartney, Sabrina Carpenter, Molly Shannon, Steve Martin and Tracy Morgan mill around the stage behind them. Robert De Niro and legendary talk show host David Letterman are shown seated in a row in front of Parker and Broderick as well.
Alongside the video, Parker wrote via Instagram: “SNL 50th anniversary. Soup to nuts, a thrilling night. Matthew and I [were] so honored to sit in Studio 8H and recall its 50 glorious years. Brilliant Lorne Michaels!! Perfectly done. Thank you for including us.”
Parker’s Saturday Night Live season 20 hosting stint came during a particularly troubled period for the show, where it was routinely being attacked by critics for its raunchy content.
The future Sex and the City actress’ appearance on the November 12, 1994, episode came together at a relatively late moment, as Juliette Lewis was originally supposed to host but dropped out.
Broderick’s first hosting stint on October 15, 1988, was most notable for the notorious nude beach sketch, written by Conan O’Brien and Robert Smigel, where the word “penis” was said 43 times on air. The controversial scene involved Broderick being questioned about his anatomy by fellow nude beach attendees Kevin Nealon and Dennis Miller.
O’Brien revealed on his podcast “Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend” in 2024 that the nude beach sketch caused a huge battle with NBC censors.
“[The censors] just said, ‘There’s no way you can do this,'” the 2025 Oscars host recalled. “We were arguing that it’s part of the anatomy, you should be able to say ‘penis.’ Of course, now, it seems like the most tame thing in the world.”
Parker avoided a potentially awkward run-in at SNL 50 with ex-boyfriend Robert Downey Jr., who was a no-show at the NBC special despite being a Saturday Night Live cast member in season 11.
Parker was dating Downey during his time on SNL, and they were together for seven years in total. The actress was by Downey’s side during his well-documented substance abuse issues, before finally splitting in 1991.
Parker went on to briefly date John F. Kennedy Jr. and then married Broderick in a 1997 ceremony officiated by the actor’s sister Rev. Janet Broderick Kraft in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The couple have three children: son James Wilkie, 22, and twin daughters Tabitha Hodge and Marion Loretta Elwell, 13.
Saturday Night Live returns on NBC and Peacock March 1 with an all-new season 50 episode at 11:30 p.m. ET.
Saturday Night Livewelcomed back cast members, hosts and musical guests for the star-studded SNL 50 special on Sunday, February 16, but there were some notable absences.
The live, three-hour NBC special featured casts and hosts mingling in new versions of iconic sketches — who will ever forget Domingo’s (Marcello Hernandez) family reunion with his brothers Renaldo (Pedro Pascal) and Santiago (Bad Bunny), or Will Ferrell causing Eddie Murphy to break character in “Scared Straight?” Unlike with previous SNL anniversary specials, producer Lorne Michaels put less emphasis on clip montages to bring viewers live sketches featuring a huge range of celebrity guests. Unfortunately, there were still some exceptions as legendary SNL stars either didn’t perform or weren’t in Studio 8H at all for the momentous evening in New York City.
Keep scrolling to find out which major cast members chose to skip SNL 50:
Dan Aykroyd
Marion Curtis/Starpix for Sony Pictures/INSTARimages
SNL‘s classic pitchman was the only living original cast member not in attendance for SNL 50, as his costars Chevy Chase, Garrett Morris, Jane Curtin and Laraine Newman were all present. Curtin and Newman even held up a photo of their late cast mate Gilda Radner in a touching moment at the end of the special.
While Aykroyd’s manager confirmed to Puck News earlier in February that the comedian “[wouldn’t] be there” for SNL 50, he did do interviews promoting the special, including appearing on NPR’s Fresh Air to reflect on the creation of the Blues Brothers.
Aykroyd also paid tribute to the show on his social feeds in multiple posts, including writing via X on Friday, February 14: “Cracking a Head with pride at having been a co-founder of SNL along with everyone we were together with in those four years, five decades ago. This telecast is as historical as the next moon landing. Comedy stars of our age all gathered under the aegis of America’s greatest living impresario, my boss Lorne Michaels. People it’s friggin’ Holy!!”
Bill Hader
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Like with Aykroyd, Puck Newsreported that Hader gave Saturday Night Live “a polite decline” when he was approached to appear live at SNL 50.
Hader still took part in the promotion of the 50th anniversary, reuniting with former costars Kristen Wiig and Fred Armisen as their characters from “The Californians” for a Volkswagen commercial.
The three-time Emmy Award winner additionally gave an interview for the documentary Ladies & Gentlemen… 50 Years of SNL Music, where he looked back on SNL‘s contentious relationship with seven-time musical guest Kanye West (who was also absent on Sunday).
“[Kanye] was always kinda like, nice, but then also really contentious, you know?” Hader revealed in the documentary. “He had no problem telling us that he found the show incredibly unfunny. He would tell us that on the regular.”
Dana Carvey
Jerod Harris/Getty Images for Netflix
One of the more unexpected omissions was Carvey, especially since he’d made semi-regular guest appearances throughout season 50 to impersonate Joe Biden and Elon Musk.
Carvey frequently spoke about his excitement for SNL 50 on his podcast “Fly on the Wall,” which he cohosts with David Spade. Spade appeared prominently in the NBC special as part of a Broadway musical parody, alongside Pete Davidson, John Mulaney and more than a dozen other SNL cast members and hosts.
Carvey recorded a new edition of “Fly on the Wall” to discuss Super Bowl LIX earlier this month, but has thus far not explained his absence from SNL 50.
Colin Quinn
Roy Rochlin/Getty Images
The former “Weekend Update” anchor was a prominent part of both Saturday Night Live‘s 25th anniversary special in 1999 and the 40th anniversary special in 2015. In both of those episodes, Quinn was involved in segments celebrating the history of “Update.”
Quinn’s exclusion this time is perhaps not surprising since SNL largely eschewed tributes. Current coanchors Colin Jost and Michael Che were briefly joined by predecessor Seth Meyers and multiple classic correspondents, including Bill Murray presenting a tongue-in-cheek ranking of the best “Update” anchors (where Quinn came in 10th place and was called “one of the all-time greats”).
The comedian’s website listed him as performing at Goodnights Comedy Club in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Sunday, so it’s possible this prior engagement kept him from appearing at SNL 50.
Robert Downey Jr.
Joe Maher/WireImage
If there was ever a time for this season 11 cast member to make a triumphant return to Studio 8H, Sunday’s special was seemingly perfect following his recent Oscar win. Alas, Downey was not in attendance. The actor was part of a controversial season where producer Michaels scrapped most of the cast (including Downey) to rebuild the show in 1986.
Archival interviews with the Marvel star were included in the Beyond Saturday Night docuseries, where he explained that friend Anthony Michael Hall helped him to get hired by Michaels in 1985.
“I learned so much in that year about what I wasn’t,” he said in Beyond Saturday Night. “But there’s not a more exciting 90 minutes you could have, whether you are any good or not.”
Downey is soon returning to the MCU to play Doctor Doom, so there’s still a chance for him to host a season 51 episode when Avengers: Doomsday releases in 2026.
Joan Cusack
Eric Charbonneau/Getty Images for Showtime
Another season 11 cast member, Cusack has only rarely discussed her one season at Saturday Night Live, thus it’s probably not too surprising that she skipped SNL 50.
In a March 2000 interview with NPR, Cusack admitted that she expected to be fired by Michaels because her time on the show “wasn’t working.”
“It wasn’t working for me, too. I was miserable,” she recalled. “I think I wound up in the hospital, actually. I had, like, some surgery, and it’s, like, horrible.”
Cusack went on to have an incredible career in Hollywood after being dropped from SNL in 1986, including receiving two Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress for Working Girl and In & Out. She won an Emmy Award in 2015 for her guest appearance in Shameless.
Others notably absent during Sunday’s special were Chris Redd (seasons 43-47), Randy Quaid (season 11) and Mary Gross (seasons 7-10).
Saturday Night Live returns on NBC and Peacock March 1 with an all-new season 50 episode at 11:30 p.m. ET.
The hugely influential NBC sketch comedy show is celebrating its 50th anniversary on Sunday, February 16, with a live three-hour NBC special featuring cast reunions and highlights of SNL’s greatest moments. Just keep in mind that it hasn’t always been smooth sailing at Studio 8H! Live TV is the riskiest medium of all, and there have been numerous examples of Saturday Night Live going off the rails over the past five decades.
While longstanding rumors of certain guests being banned have been denied by producer Lorne Michaels, there have been memorable instances of hosts and musical guests rebelling and even SNL‘s own cast members getting into scraps behind the scenes. Michaels famously said that SNL “doesn’t go on because it’s ready; it goes on because it’s 11:30.”
Ahead of SNL 50, keep scrolling to look back on the show’s most controversial hosts and musical guests of all time:
Kanye West
West has had a contentious relationship with Saturday Night Live for more than a decade, despite appearing on the show as a musical guest seven times between 2005 and 2018.
The controversial hip-hop star once got so angry about SNL poking fun at him that he called out the show on his 2010 track “Power,” saying: “F— SNL and the whole cast, tell ’em Yeezy said they can kiss my whole ass.” Strangely, Michaels didn’t take the insult personally and invited West back many times.
In 2016, West threatened to walk out before SNL went live because his preferred stage decorations had been changed without permission. The 2025 documentary Ladies & Gentlemen … 50 Years of SNL Music included behind-the-scenes audio of West complaining to his handlers after storming out.
“Look at that s—,” the musician is heard saying. “They took my f—ing stage off at SNL without asking me. Now I’m bummed. Are they f—ing crazy? I’m 50 percent more influential than any other human being. Don’t f— with me!”
Michaels recalled having to follow West out of Rockefeller Center in order to persuade the rapper to return.
“We talked and we just went over what had happened,” Michaels said in the documentary. “I said, ‘Didn’t you tell everybody that you’re on, and that they’ll be hearing this stuff? So we’ll be here regardless and we’ll figure it out, but this is more damaging to you than it is to us, so I think you should do it.'”
The final straw seemingly came during season 44 in 2018 when West defiantly showed support for Donald Trump by wearing a “Make America Great Again” baseball cap on air and then ranted to the studio audience about his support for the politician after the show finished broadcasting. West has not been invited back since that controversial episode.
Chevy Chase
Chase was the first of SNL‘s Not Ready for Prime Time Players to become a superstar in 1975 and, thus, also the first cast member to quit the show. Chase exited Saturday Night Live in the middle of the second season, and when he returned to host from time to time, it usually went badly.
His first hosting stint came on February 18, 1978, when he had a now-notorious scuffle with Bill Murray backstage just before going on air. Chase later claimed on The Howard Stern Show that Murray, who had replaced Chase in SNL’s cast, had been manipulated by a “jealous” John Belushi into confronting him so close to air time.
“[Bill] was a tough kid from Chicago who probably thought I was from Harvard and had never had a fight. Unfortunately, that’s not true,” Chase said in 2008.
He went on: “Apparently, [my success] ate a little bit at John, enough so that he said things to Bill about me [about] when I was on the show that simply hadn’t occurred or existed. … He’d already worked Bill up a little bit. I went in [to host], I was probably a little full of myself after a year of fame, or whatever, and I think that Bill probably wanted to knock me down a couple of rungs and I think he wanted to take me on.”
Chevy Chase, dressed in his iconic ‘landshark’ costume, on an episode of Saturday Night Live.Robert R McElroy/Getty Images
Chase and Murray made peace after their brawl and even starred together in classic 1980 comedy Caddyshack.
In 1985, producer Michaels returned to SNL after five years away and asked Chase to come in as host for season 11’s second show on November 16, 1985. The previous week’s season premiere, hosted by Madonna, had been widely panned, so the SNL team were counting on Chase to help turn around their fortunes.
Unfortunately, Chase’s return to SNL was nothing like the triumphant comeback Michaels may have envisioned, as he clashed with the writers and cast right away. In the 2002 book Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live, season 11 cast member Terry Sweeney referred to Chase as “a monster.”
“I mean, he insulted everybody. He said to Robert Downey Jr., ‘Didn’t your father used to be a successful director? Whatever happened to him? Boy, he sure died, you know, he sure went to hell.’ Downey turned ashen,” Sweeney recalled. “And then Chevy turned to me and he said, ‘Oh, you’re the gay guy, right?’ And he goes, ‘I’ve got an idea for a sketch for you. How about we say you have AIDS and we weigh you every week?’ It was out of place.”
Chase continued to be a problematic figure throughout much of his career, having famously left NBC sitcom Community in 2012 after allegedly using a racial slur on set. Chase denied any wrongdoing.
Adrien Brody
Brody was less than two months removed from becoming the youngest-ever Best Actor Oscar winner for The Pianist when he hosted SNL on May 10, 2003.
The sketches in Brody’s episode weren’t notable, but he infamously stirred up trouble behind the scenes by insisting on wearing a dreadlock wig to introduce musical guest Sean Paul.
The actor had been told by SNL‘s production team not to wear the wig but decided to do so anyway, on top of using an offensive imitation of a Jamaican patois in his intro.
Adrian BrodyAmy Sussman/Getty Images
For many years, it was assumed that Brody had been banned for life from hosting SNL. Brody denied that he’d been outright banned in a January 2025 interview with Vulture but did concede that he’d “never been invited back on” either.
Michaels set the record straight in Peacock’s 2025 documentary Ladies & Gentlemen … 50 Years of SNL Music when he denied anyone was officially banned from the show.
“I’ll read it sometimes in the Post, ‘So and so’s banned for life.’ We’ve never banned anyone,” Michaels said. “We’re way too crass and opportunistic. If something’s hot, we’re going to go for it and have it on.”
Sinéad O’Connor
Perhaps the most controversial musical performance in SNL‘s history aired on October 3, 1992, when Irish singer-songwriter O’Connor ripped up a picture of Pope John Paul II during her cover of Bob Marley‘s 1976 protest song “War.”
“Fight the real enemy,” she urged viewers as she threw the shredded photograph on the studio floor.
O’Connor had been a vocal critic of the Catholic Church throughout her career, having accused the organization of turning a blind eye to alleged sexual and emotional abuse she and others suffered as a child in Ireland. The Catholic Church had not yet publicly acknowledged or apologized for abuses within its ranks and wouldn’t do so for another eight years.
SNL‘s then-music coordinator John Zonars revealed in Live From New York: An Uncensored History ofSaturday Night Live that O’Connor’s manager approached him before showtime to ask whether SNL ever pulled the show off air if “something [went] wrong.”
Sinead O’ConnorVinnie Zuffante/Getty Images
O’Connor wasn’t originally supposed to perform “War,” but her manager requested a last-minute change. Producers were then assured O’Connor was going to hold up a picture of a child and say: “This is what we have to protect.”
When the SNL production team discovered live on air that O’Connor switched out her picture for one of the pope, Michaels demanded that the applause sign in Studio 8H not be flashed. However, the producer later made the decision to keep the performance intact for SNL‘s Central and West Coast repeats.
“Lorne was the only one that didn’t seem completely out of his mind,” Zonars said. “One thing I’ve always respected about Lorne is that he has this real hard-on for any kind of censorship. He does not want anything to be censored. He wants things to happen as they happen.”
O’Connor was swiftly condemned by both the Catholic Church and the Anti-Defamation League and was booed during a performance at Bob Dylan‘s 30th anniversary concert at New York City’s Madison Square Garden two weeks later.
Despite the backlash she faced, O’Connor told Salon in 2002 that she stood by her statement, even if the nuances may not have been as clear to American viewers as they were in Ireland.
“It’s very understandable that the American people did not know what I was going on about,” O’Connor said. “But outside of America, people did really know and it was quite supported and I think very well understood.”
Dave Chappelle
Eagle-eyed Saturday Night Live viewers quickly spotted an awkward moment during the closing Goodnights segment on the January 27, 2024, episode.
Chappelle popped up unannounced to mingle with SNL‘s cast during the closing credits even though he hadn’t appeared in any sketches in the Dakota Johnson–hosted installment.
Cast member Bowen Yang stood on the opposite side of the stage with his arms folded throughout the Goodnights, looking upset. Fans speculated that Yang was silently protesting Chappelle’s appearance due to his controversial jokes about the transgender community.
Donnell Rawlings, Dave Chapelle as Silky Johnson, Ego Nwodim as Arlette Amuli on Saturday Night Live.Leanne Diaz/NBC
Yang subsequently acknowledged to Variety that he was “just confused” by Chappelle’s appearance because of “other people’s response in the show.”
“I stand where I always stand on Goodnights. It was not a physical distance that anyone was creating,” he said in June 2024. “It had to do with so many things that were completely internal.”
Any disagreement was seemingly smoothed over by the time Chappelle hosted SNL again in January 2025, as he was shown hugging Yang during the closing credits.
Louise Lasser
An early example of SNL breaking its usually rigid format took place on the July 24, 1976, episode.
Lasser, the star of satirical soap opera Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, had been arrested on a charge of cocaine possession (for which she’d later be sentenced to drug counseling) a week before she was due to host the NBC show. SNL writers parodied Lasser’s soap role and real-life scandals by referencing the actress’s genuine personal problems in multiple sketches designed to make viewers question the reality of what they were watching.
According to SNL staffers, Lasser reached a breaking point during rehearsals and locked herself in her dressing room.
Louise LasserLynn Goldsmith/Getty Images
“The day of the show, she decided she wasn’t going to do the show unless a certain sketch was cut,” SNL talent coordinator Neil Levy said in Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live. “And we were all preparing to do the show without her. In fact, I remember [Dan] Aykroyd getting excited about it: ‘We can do it, Lorne. We can get out there and we’ll improv it. We’ll do a helluva show.’ And they were ready. And Lorne told her agent that he would make sure everyone knew if she walked out.”
Lasser ultimately went on as scheduled, but the SNL writers played off the host’s real discomfort during her monologue. She was shown fleeing the stage, in a moment that was presented to viewers as real, before being coaxed out of her dressing room to continue the show.
Michaels had Lasser’s episode pulled from SNL‘s syndication package due to the controversy.
Andrew Dice Clay
SNL‘s decision to invite incendiary comedian Clay to host on May 12, 1990, didn’t simply attract bad press — it caused tremendous dissension behind the scenes.
Clay attracted criticism for his stand-up comedy routine, some of which was deemed sexist, racist and homophobic by advocacy groups Rock Against Racism, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and the National Organization for Women. Members from each of these groups protested outside Rockefeller Center in hopes of getting Clay dropped from SNL.
After Michaels announced Clay would go on as scheduled, SNL cast member Nora Dunn boycotted the episode alongside scheduled musical guest Sinéad O’Connor.
In a 2015 interview with Salon, Dunn said she chose to walk out because she wasn’t confident SNL‘s writing staff could “handle” Clay’s raunchy humor without appearing to condone it.
“Lorne said, ‘Andrew Dice Clay was a phenomenon worth examining.’ And yeah, he was a phenomenon, but if you’re going to examine him, he shouldn’t be the host, you should write an article,” she argued. “We didn’t examine the hosts of SNL. We supported them, we wrote for them and we made them look good. Otherwise you’d never get a host. You’re there to make them look good. SNL was not capable of handling that kind of stuff and it was a sad moment, but whatever.”
Dunn went on: “I was well aware of that guy’s so-called ‘work.’ He had been a comedian for many years, and he gradually became Andrew Dice Clay and he got more and more into it and he lost his way because he wasn’t smart enough.”
By the time Clay stepped on stage for his monologue on Saturday, tensions were running high in Studio 8H. Dice was mere moments into his stand-up routine when activists in the audience began loudly protesting.
“Racist, sexist, anti-gay, Clay go away,” the protesters chanted before being removed from the studio.
Michaels stood by his decision to book Clay while being interviewed in 2002 for Live From New York: An Uncensored History ofSaturday Night Live.
“My sympathies were with [Clay],” the producer said. “One of the things you’ll find is consistent from the beginning to now is that we’ve always obeyed the rules of hospitality. You don’t invite somebody to your house to piss on him. My point is that this person has put themselves in your hands, they’re completely vulnerable, the show only works if they look good, so why would you have anybody over that you don’t like? What — because you need the ratings? It doesn’t make any sense. He was completely vulnerable. Nora painted herself into a corner, I think. We’re not one big happy family, you’ve probably figured that out. That said, everybody plays by a set of rules.”
Dunn returned to Saturday Night Live for the following week’s season 15 finale but exited the cast soon after.
Elon Musk
The Tesla executive and new boss of the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency dabbled in sketch comedy when he hosted the May 8, 2021, episode. Critics saw Musk’s booking as an example of stunt casting, like SNL had done many times before with Trump, Paris Hilton and any number of professional athletes.
As expected, Musk’s sketch performances as Wario and a hipster doctor were roundly panned, and many long-time SNL fans would have preferred the episode become lost to time.
Musk’s alleged bad behavior behind the scenes came to light after cast member Bowen Yang seemingly called him out on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen in 2024. Yang accused an unnamed male host of making “multiple cast members cry” before his costar Chloe Fineman directly outed Musk by revealing she’d been reduced to tears by him.
“I just saw some news article about Elon Musk being like butt-hurt about SNL and his impression [by Dana Carvey], but I’m like, ‘You’re clearly watching the show.’ Like, what are you talking about?” Fineman said in a now-deleted TikTok video. “And I’m like, ‘You know what? I’m gonna come out and say at long last that I’m the cast member that he made cry.’ And he’s the host that made someone cry. Maybe there’s others.”
Musk defended himself via X by writing that he’d expressed frustrations at SNL about whether his episode would be “so f—ing unfunny that it [would] make a crackhead sober.”
The Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary Special airs Sunday, February 16, with a red carpet special streaming live on Peacock from 7 p.m ET and the live show airing on NBC at 8 p.m. ET.
The Brat Pack were thrown into the dizzying heights of Hollywood superstardom, where their love lives became national news even as some of the crew were still teenagers. Throughout the 1980s, Brat Pack membership would expand to include the likes of Demi Moore, Rob Lowe and Robert Downey Jr. and they’d go on to star together in other hit 1980s comedies such as Weird Science, The Outsiders and Pretty in Pink, to name only a few.
As The Breakfast Club celebrates its 40th anniversary on Saturday, February 15, keep scrolling for a rundown of the cast’s families and relationships:
Molly Ringwald
Courtesy of Molly Ringwald/Instagram
Ringwald was already a star on the rise by the time writer-director John Hughes‘ The Breakfast Club was released, as she’d previously appeared in Hughes’ 1984 hit romantic comedy Sixteen Candles.
The actress, who was just 16 while filming The Breakfast Club, was romantically linked to musician Dweezil Zappa, son of music icon Frank Zappa, and rapper Ad-Rock of the Beastie Boys throughout the 1980s.
Ringwald stepped away from Hollywood by the early 1990s to study French while living in Paris. She had previously attended a French immersion school, the Lycée Français de Los Angeles, before becoming a teen superstar.
In a 1994 interview, Ringwald said she first seriously considered moving to France after filming the 1987 avant garde movie King Lear with influential French director Jean-Luc Godard.
“I went to Paris a couple of years ago to work,” Ringwald told The Los Angeles Times in 1994. “I was just so happy there. It was during the summer and the sun goes down at 10 at night. The whole city just seemed alive. I wanted to see what it felt like living outside of America and get a different perspective.”
Ringwald married French writer Valéry Lameignère on July 28, 1999 in Bordeaux, France, but they divorced only three years later. She would subsequently wed book editor Panio Gianopoulos in 2007, with the couple welcoming three children together. Their first child, a daughter named Mathilda, was born in 2003, followed by fraternal twins, daughter Adele Georgiana and son Roman Stylianos, in 2009.
In 2018, Ringwald looked back on showing her classic ’80s movies to her children in spite of some problematic elements. (Sixteen Candles, in particular, has been criticized for its stereotypical and potentially offensive depictions of race and attitudes toward sex.)
“I feel like that’s what makes the movies really wonderful, and it’s also something I wanted to go on record talking about — the elements that I find troubling and that I want to change for the future,” she told Andy Cohen. “But that doesn’t mean at all that I want them to be erased. I’m proud of those movies, and I have a lot of affection for them. They’re so much a part of me.”
Ally Sheedy
Ally Sheedy and son Beck pose with John Fugelsang.Courtesy of John Fugelsang/X
Sheedy was in her 20s by the time she played high school outcast Allison Reynolds in The Breakfast Club and had a breakthrough performance a year prior in 1983’s WarGames, opposite Matthew Broderick and Dabney Coleman.
Following The Breakfast Club’s release, Sheedy was in a high-profile romance with Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora for a year. She later told The Los Angeles Times that she sought treatment for abusing Halcion, Xanax and antidepressants after their split.
“Things change when you fall in love with someone. For all his problems. And I was in love with that guy,” she said in 1998. “It was a key relationship in my life, not his. It destroyed me. I ended up in a lot of trouble.”
Sheedy continued. “As smart as you can be, there are a lot of things you can only learn through painful experience. I started taking drugs to be with him [Sambora] on his level and in his world. It not only relieved the anxiety of being with him but also helped me to deal with someone who’s behaving horribly toward me.”
Sambora denied any accusation that he used drugs, calling Sheedy’s claims “ludicrous and false.”
In 1992, Sheedy married actor David Lansbury, the nephew of the late Murder, She Wrote star Angela Lansbury, and their son Beckett was born in 1994. The couple filed for divorce in 2008.
The St. Elmo’s Fire star shared in 2022 that Beckett had come out as a trans male in his teens, and reflected on what she’d learned from his journey.
“Beck doesn’t hide anything,” she told People. “And I feel very comfortable talking to anyone whose kid is just beginning the process of transition. Parents need to educate themselves.”
“It’s natural to have fears about your kids, no matter what. But in this case, Beck is in a really great place in his life. I give him the room to run, and I just really try to just watch.”
Emilio Estevez
Courtesy of Emilio Estevez/Instagram
Estevez, who played troubled jock Andrew Clark in The Breakfast Club, comes from one of Hollywood’s most famous families as the son of The West Wing‘s Martin Sheen and actress Janet Sheen, and brother of actors Charlie Sheen, Ramon Estevez and Renée Estevez.
Early in his career Emilio dated actress Mimi Rogers and then made headlines for an on-set romance with St. Elmo’s Fire costar Demi Moore between 1984 and 1986.
In a 1986 interview, Moore spoke about the experience of working with Emilio on his directorial debut Wisdom.
“He really allowed me to be part of the team from the very beginning,” Moore told KCRA 3. “I was always encouraged to contribute to my character, on casting, I was allowed to go on location scouts. Really, just throughout the whole thing, he really shared every part of the process that he was going through.”
The couple were briefly engaged but called it quits before marrying. Moore would later write in her 2019 memoir, Inside Out, that she called off her wedding to Emilio after a friend spotted him out with another woman.
“Emilio and I in fact just mailed out the invitations for our wedding when a friend told me she had seen him out with someone else in LA,” Moore wrote. “He denied it, of course, but I was having a hard time trusting him: during a two-week breakup a few months before, he’d slept with an ‘ex’ girlfriend, lied about it and then forced to tell me the truth when he found out she was pregnant.”
Emilio moved on with model Carey Salley, with whom he had a son and a daughter, Taylor and Paloma, in 1984 and 1986, respectively.
By 1992, Emilio married pop superstar and choreographer Paula Abdul but their union was short-lived, as they filed for divorce in 1994.
During the couple’s brief marriage, Emilio told E! News in 1992 that he was drawn to Abdul’s “silly sense of humor.”
“We find the simplest things funny,” he said. “We spend a lot of our time just laughing, just giggling. We’re like a couple of kids. It’s a very special thing.”
The actor was subsequently engaged to winemaker Sonja Magdevski from 2006 to 2015.
Anthony Michael Hall
Anthony Michael Hall and Lucia Oskerova.Leon Bennett/Getty Images for Netflix
Hall confirmed to Us Weekly in June 2024 that he’d had a fling with Ringwald while they were filming The Breakfast Club in 1984.
“One of the funniest things that happened during the making of The Breakfast Club was Molly Ringwald cornering me in the school hallway to tell me she had a big crush on me,” Hall told Us. “We ended up dating. One could say, my character, Brian Johnson, actually got the girl in the end.”
Many years later, he was linked to Dead Zone costar Sandra Guerard from 2001 to 2006 and journalist Diana Falzone from 2009 to 2010. Falzone got a temporary restraining order against Hall following their split in 2009 and police were later called to her apartment over allegations of a violent argument. Hall’s representatives denied Falzone’s accusations, calling them “erroneous.”
Hall subsequently married The Last Sharknado: It’s About Time actress Lucia Oskerova in 2020 and they welcomed a son, Michael Anthony Hall II, in 2023.
“It’s great. We’re excited. That first month of parenting is pretty wild,” Hall told People at the time. “Everything that everybody tells you is pretty true: you lose sleep and it’s the craziest time, but it’s the best time. So we’re really enjoying it.”
Judd Nelson
Judd Nelson.Rich Fury/Getty Images
Nelson was linked to Beverly Hills 90210 star Shannen Doherty in 1993 and while they split soon after, he was one of many who publicly supported Doherty during her fight with stage 4 cancer.
“She’s a real survivor. I mean, I don’t know if that’s a good thing sometimes,” Nelson exclusively told Us Weekly in March 2024. “Because she’s going to fight it. You know what I mean? It’s like, I really have great empathy for her and I really wish her the best.”
Tragically, Doherty died in July 2024 at age 53 following a lengthy battle with the disease.
Nelson, who also dated former Playboy model Sheila Lussier from 2003 to 2005, was one of the few Brat Pack members who declined to take part in Andrew McCarthy‘s acclaimed documentary Brats, about the group’s struggles and successes.
“It seems strange to have that subject matter be something for edited entertainment,” Nelson, confirmed to Us Weekly in March 2024. “Also, like, he’s a nice guy, but I hadn’t seen him in 35 years. And it’s like, I’m not going to [be] like, ‘Hey!’ No, dude.”
He went on: “I don’t even know who’s in the Brat Pack. It’s like, why kind of rebirth something that wasn’t necessarily fun? … How can we be experts on something that didn’t ever really exist?”
The Breakfast Club is available to stream now on AMC+, Prime Video, Apple TV+ and YouTube Premium.
