WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump was heading south to sunny Florida on Friday after his historic impeachment, while plans for his speedy trial back in Washington remained clouded. Senate leaders jockeying for leverage failed to agree on procedures and perhaps new witnesses for the trial.Trump is still expected to be acquitted of both charges in the Senate, where Republicans have the majority, in what will be only the third presidential impeachment trial in U.S. history. Proceedings are expected to begin in January. But the impasse between Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Democratic leader Chuck Schumer over whether there will be new witnesses and testimony — along with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s refusal so far to send the articles of impeachment to the Senate — have left the situation unresolved.“Nancy Pelosi is looking for a Quid Pro Quo with the Senate. Why aren’t we Impeaching her?” Trump tweeted, mocking one of the accusations against him before heading out for a two-week stay at his Mar-a-Lago resort for the holidays.McConnell, Trump’s most powerful GOP ally in the Senate, welcomed the president’s emerging defense team Friday for a walk-through of the Senate chamber. White House counsel Pat Cipollone and legislative affairs director Eric Ueland, came to Capitol Hill to assess logistics. A six-term veteran of the Senate, McConnell is acting very much though he has the votes to ensure a trial uncluttered by witnesses — despite the protests of top Democrats Pelosi and Schumer.“We have this fascinating situation where, following House Democrats’ rush to impeachment, following weeks of pronouncements about the urgency of this situation, the prosecutors have now developed cold feet,” McConnell, R-Ky., said late Thursday as senators left town for the year.“We’ll continue to see how this develops, and whether the House Democrats ever work up the courage to take their accusations to trial.”McConnell has all but promised an easy acquittal of the president. He appears to have united Republicans behind an approach that would begin the trial with presentations and arguments, lasting perhaps two weeks, before he tries drawing the proceedings to a close. The Senate will reconvene Jan. 3.That’s sparked a fight with Pelosi and Schumer, who are demanding trial witnesses who refused to appear during House committee hearings, including acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and former national security adviser John Bolton.“They should have witnesses and documentation,” Pelosi told The Associated Press. “This could be something very beneficial to the country, if the facts are there.”Schumer’s leverage is limited, though his party can force votes on witnesses once a trial begins. He appears to be counting on public opinion, and political pressure on vulnerable Republican incumbents like Susan Collins of Maine, to give Democrats the 51 votes they need.“You wouldn’t get them to say, ‘I’m going to vote to kick President Trump out of office,’” Schumer said in an interview. “But you might get them to vote for witnesses, you might get them to vote for documents, and we’ll see where it falls from there.”McConnell isn’t budging. After a 20-minute meeting with Schumer on Thursday, he declared the talks at an impasse and instructed senators to return on Jan. 6 ready to vote. McConnell appears ready to impose a framework drawn from the 1999 trial of Bill Clinton, who was acquitted of two articles of impeachment. That trial featured a 100-0 vote on arrangements that established two weeks of presentations and argument before a partisan tally in which Republicans called a limited number of witnesses, including Monica Lewinsky for a videotaped deposition.McConnell said Thursday. “I continue to believe that the unanimous bipartisan precedent that was good enough for President Clinton ought to be good enough for this president, too. Fair is fair.”There’s a risk that Schumer’s protests — which started Sunday with a letter to McConnell requesting four witnesses — could cement GOP unity. Endangered Republican senators including Cory Gardner of Colorado and Martha McSally of Arizona need strong turnout by the GOP base to win, and will be hard-pressed to take Schumer’s side.Trump, meanwhile, has been hoping the trial will serve as an opportunity for vindication. He continues to talk about parading his own witnesses to the chamber, including former Vice President and 2020 Democratic candidate Joe Biden and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who led the fact-finding phase of the impeachment investigation.There is little appetite for witnesses among McConnell and other key Senate GOP allies, however.__Associated Press writer Lisa Mascaro contributed.
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John Amos says reuniting with Norman Lear for Live in Front of a Studio Audience was a ‘blessing’
John Amos may be days away from celebrating his 80th birthday, but so many of his wishes have already come true. On Tuesday night, he was reunited with legendary television producer Norman Lear, and former Good Times co-stars Bern Nadette Stanis, Jimmie Walker, and Ja’net Dubois on ABC’s Live In Front of a Studio Audience.
Amos, who continues to act and is also a children’s book author, spoke to EW about his big return to the world of the popular 1970s show that he departed after its third season due to creative differences with Lear.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: It was a total surprise to see you return to Good Times for this TV special. How did it come about?JOHN AMOS: I was informed that they were doing Live in Front of a Studio Audience, where they’d be doing a recapitulation of a Good Times episode. That meant working with Norman Lear again, which was like a quadruple blessing. Norman and I have a history that goes back a number of decades. He literally changed the face of television for all time. He’s the most creative person I’ve ever worked with in my career, and I feel so blessed to have been able to work with him again.
You and Mr. Lear had a very public falling out after your contract was not renewed after the show’s third season. Is that all water under the bridge?
Oh yeah! We dealt with our differences a number of years ago. In fact, I went on to do at least three other pilots for him. They all could’ve been very successful if they had been handled the right way by the media. Norman was one of the most dominant and creative forces on television at the time. He had several of the top 10 shows at the time, and there were some people that were quite jealous of him. They showed their jealousy by not showing support for his shows that they should’ve received.
One way or the other, we resolved our differences. There were other relationships that we had that culminated last night. I was very fortunate to be alive to do another episode of Good Times. Oddly enough, I was playing opposite the character that I had played on the original show. It was such a wonderful reunion with Norman and his creative staff.
When you walked onto the set, you were met face to face by Andre Braugher who was playing the role you made famous all those years ago. How did you feel?
It was so surreal! It was the first time I ever played opposite a character that I’d played for a number of years. And to have Andre Braugher playing James couldn’t have been more of a compliment. He’s an accomplished actor who I worked with on Shakespeare in the Park. It was a wonderful experience working with Andre back then, and again last night.
How do you think the rest of the cast did?
Viola [Davis] was just wonderful in the role of Florida. Everyone really did such a great job. It was thanks to Tiffany Haddish, who played Willona, that I was able to celebrate my birthday with so many great people that night. My 80th birthday is two days after Christmas, but she made sure that it was a celebration for me early.
I really felt a tremendous outpouring of love. I was in tears for most of the night, but they were tears of joy.
It was also a reunion between you and your former co-stars. How long had it been since you all last saw each other?
Bern Nadette and I have seen each other recently. She tours the country with her husband, who is quite an accomplished businessman, where she meets with numerous military personnel with her now three books. She’s become a wonderful author. And I work with her and her husband doing the same thing for the military, which is important to me being an ex-military man myself.
Fans are in for another treat from you in 2020 when you reprise your role win Coming to America 2. What has Cleo McDowell been up to after all these years?
It’s been so exciting to be back working with Eddie Murphy again. Working with him as an actor has been a supreme joy. He’s a consummate artist, transitioning from one character to another with such flawless ease. He’s a study in how to act and how to be a successful comic.
Being reunited with Eddie, Arsenio [Hall], and James Earl Jones was such a privilege.
With so many of your wishes already having come true, what did you wish for when you blew our your candles?
I wished that everyone watching the episode last night really enjoyed it, as well as all the other work that I’ve done throughout my career. I wish that all the love and happiness we felt doing that episode was shared with those at home. I wish everyone a peaceful and happy New Year. Right now, we really need love and respect for each other now more than we ever have in this country’s history.
When I started in this industry, I was a writer. I feel that I’ve finally come full circle now that I’ve written my children’s book called A World Without Color. I have no plans to retire, but I’ll be pulling back a little bit just to enjoy my children and my grandchildren, and to enjoy life. I’m living in Colorado in a very low profile fashion. But I am involved and have access to the local theatrical groups that have some fine young actors of all ages in it from my local area.
So I will continue to work until I can’t work anymore. Norman is still working well into his nineties. He makes me feel like I’m just getting started.
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(CNN)A leading Christian magazine founded by late evangelist Billy Graham — father of key presidential supporter Franklin Graham — published an op-ed on Thursday calling for President Donald Trump to be removed from office and urging evangelicals not to sup…
Bombalurina in Cats
Universal Pictures
Taylor Swift’s most high-profile role to date is also the one that puts her singing chops to good use. As Bombalurina in 2019’s Cats, Swift gets to inform all of the Jellicle cats about the dastardly Macavity in her jazzy number, “Macavity: The Mystery Cat.”
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Rosemary in The Giver
In 2014’s The Giver, based on the dystopian novel of the same name by Lois Lowry, Swift plays Rosemary, the daughter of the Giver who becomes traumatized when she’s chosen to be the Receiver of Memory.
Elaine in New Girl
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In 2013, the pop star had a guest-starring spot on the season 2 finale of one of her favorite shows, New Girl. She played Elaine, an important guest at the wedding of Cece (Hannah Simone) and Shivrang (Satya Bhabha). Her appearance was the culmination of a bit of a running joke on the show, which name-checked Swift numerous times.
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Audrey in The Lorax
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Swift lent her voice to the 2012 animated film The Lorax, which is based on the Dr. Seuss book of the same name. In it, she voices Audrey, the love interest of Ted (voiced by Zac Efron).
Felicia in Valentine’s Day
Everett Collection
The 2010 ensemble rom-com Valentine’s Day is the first time Swift appeared on screen in a film. In it, she plays Felicia, who is in a brand new relationship with Taylor Lautner’s character, Willy. Fun fact: The two dated in real life after working on the film together, and her song “Back to December” is reportedly about him.
Haley Jones in CSI
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The singer-songwriter is not shy about her love for CSI, and in her very first acting role ever, she played Haley Jones in the 2009 episode “Turn, Turn, Turn.” Spoiler alert: She plays the episode’s main victim.
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Join us for a very special episode of the Star Wars Untold Stories podcast, where EW’s very own coalition of Sith Lords is digging into The Rise of Skywalker, the final film in the mainline trilogy-of-trilogies saga. It’s a spoiler-filled conversation featuring EW’s James Hibberd, our man in the galaxy far, far away, plus Devan Coggan, Chancellor Agard, and yours truly.
We try to cover everything. Big twists! Shocking returns! Lightsabers on lightsabers! Opinions may differ, but all arguments are made in the spirit of respectful discourse, which is the only way anyone talks about Star Wars, obviously.
Listen to Star Wars Untold Stories below, or better yet, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, Radio.com, iHeart, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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The World’s Oldest Fossil Forest Was Just Found in New York, And It’s Magnificent – ScienceAlert
CARLY CASSELLA
20 DEC 2019
A slice of the world’s oldest fossilised forest has been found cemented into the ground at an abandoned quarry in Cairo, New York.Discovered by chance in 2009, these extremely rare webs of fossilised roots, some of which are nearly 11 metres (36 ft) wide, mark the spot where some of the first woody trees once stood.
“You are walking through the roots of ancient trees,” paleobotanist Christopher Berry from Cardiff University in the United Kingdom told Science Magazine.”Standing on the quarry surface we can reconstruct the living forest around us in our imagination.”(Stein et al., Current Biology, 2019)Many of these long woody roots are thought to belong to plants of the Archaeopteris genus, an ancestor of today’s modern trees and one of the first to capture and store carbon dioxide from the air with its flat green leaves.This sort of activity would have dramatically shifted our planet’s climate, potentially adding more oxygen to the atmosphere and providing lush habitats for primitive insects and millipede-like creatures. It would be many more years before birds and other large animals made their home in the trees.”By the end of the Devonian period [360 million years ago], the amount of carbon dioxide was coming down to what we know it is today,” explained Berry to New Scientist.The international team of researchers has so far mapped over 3,000 square metres of this fossilised forest (over 32,000 square feet), which includes two other types of ancient tree; one of them belongs to a fossil plant group known as cladoxylopsids, and the other is yet to be identified.Altogether, the forest would have been quite open and sparse, with clumps of cladoxylopsids spotted throughout. This particular leafless tree would have stretched 10 metres high (some 32 ft) with short celery-like branches and shallow roots.Archaeopteris, on the other hand, resembled more of a pine tree, but instead of bearing needles it would have grown hairy, fern-like fronds. Marked by long woody roots, this particular tree would have dramatically changed the way plants and soils gathered water.All three fossilised remains, the authors say, would have reproduced via spores and not seeds.Earth scientist Howard Falcon-Lang from Royal Holloway, London, who was not involved in the study, told BBC News he has no doubt these are the earliest fossilised trees found on our planet so far, but that doesn’t mean they won’t someday be surpassed by something older.”It may well be that in the future, something even older pops up – palaeontology is full of surprises,” said Falcon-Lang.”But for the time being, this is incredibly exciting.”The presence of fish fossils in the sandstone quarry suggest this ancient fossilised forest was ultimately wiped out by a flood. But not before it changed our planet for the better.The study was published in Current Biology.
Oklahoma City Thunder Players Were Onsite When a Shooting Took Place Inside Local Mall
Among the players in attendance for the private movie screening was center Steven Adams. The shooting took place at Penn Square Mall. The incident began as a disturbance between two individuals that left one of them shot in the chest, according to police. Among the players in attendance for the private movie screening was center Steven Adams. Members of the Oklahoma City Thunder were attending a private movie screening at a local mall on Thursday when shots were fired at a nearby shoe store. Team security was onsite and immediately made aware of the situation. A team spokesman later told The Athletic’s Erik Horne that the Thunder players were never in danger. Source: TwitterIsolated Incident The shooting took place at Penn Square Mall, located at the intersection of Oklahoma City’s Pennsylvania Ave. and Northwest Expressway, near Interstate 44. The incident began as a disturbance between two individuals that left one of them shot in the chest, according to police. The mall was placed in lockdown almost immediately after the shooting, with patrons and employees leaving the area or sheltering in place. Later, local ABC affiliate KOCO obtained video of the fight that may have prompted the shooting. The victim was ultimately wheeled out of the mall on a stretcher by paramedics and is reportedly in critical condition. Police didn’t initially identify a suspect but later described a black male wearing grey sweatpants and no shirt seen fleeing the Foot Locker inside Penn Square Mall. Authorities were still clearing the mall of people as their search for the alleged shooter unfolded. Source: TwitterThunder In Between Home Games The Thunder came back from a double-digit deficit to beat the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night at Chesapeake Energy Arena, a 15-minute drive from Penn Square Mall. They had an off day on Thursday before another home game on Friday night against the Phoenix Suns. Among the players in attendance for the private movie screening was center Steven Adams. He was photographed leaving the mall shortly after the shooting, holding a replica of R2-D2 from Star Wars. Source: TwitterThe Thunder are 13-14 this season, seventh place in the Western Conference. This article was edited by Gerelyn Terzo.
Democrats keeping impeachment articles from Senate is bad for Trump – Business Insider
President Donald Trump is unequivocal: He is innocent, the phone call was “perfect,” and the Senate will soon acquit him of the impeachment charges against him.But Democrats are throwing a wrench into Trump’s plan.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic lawmakers may withhold the articles of impeachment from the Republican-led Senate until they get assurances that Trump’s trial will be fair to Democrats.Trump and Senate Republicans made a number of public statements on Thursday that signal their apprehensiveness over the possibility.If Democrats decide not to transmit the articles of impeachment, it could deprive Trump of what he wants most: “total and complete exoneration” as he heads into a tough reelection campaign.Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.President Donald Trump is unequivocal: He is innocent, the phone call was “perfect,” and he will soon be exonerated of all accusations of wrongdoing as he seeks reelection in 2020.The president has been steadfast in making these claims in the wake of his impeachment by the House of Representatives on Wednesday for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.Both charges relate to Trump’s efforts to strongarm Ukraine into acceding to his political demands while withholding vital security assistance and a White House meeting that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky desperately wants.The evidence against him, Democrats say, is overwhelming and undisputed, having been confirmed not just by testimony by over a dozen witnesses and White House documents but by Trump’s own public statements.Trump, meanwhile, says his impeachment is a partisan and unconstitutional “crusade” by disgruntled Democrats who want to overturn the results of the 2016 presidential election.To that end, Trump has said he looks forward to his trial in the Republican-controlled Senate, which is widely expected to acquit him, allowing the president to claim what he wants most: “total and complete exoneration” heading into the election.But Democrats might not make it that easy.’Frankly, I don’t care what the Republicans say’
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.
AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic lawmakers have signaled an openness to withholding the articles of impeachment against Trump from the Senate until they get assurances from the Republican-led chamber that Trump’s trial will be impartial and fair to Democrats.”So far we haven’t seen anything that looks fair to us,” Pelosi said on Wednesday night.Pelosi indicated she won’t name impeachment managers, or House Democrats who will serve as prosecutors in the Senate trial, until there’s more clarity on the guidelines. In a press conference on Thursday, Pelosi reiterated that she will withhold the articles until she can confirm the terms of the process will be “fair,” and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other congressional Democrats, lined up behind her.House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer also announced there will be no more votes in the chamber until the winter recess is over on January 7. This effectively means the House will not vote on a resolution naming impeachment managers and to transmit the articles over to the Senate until January.In the last week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has rejected calls from Democrats for specific witnesses in the trial, while telling Fox News there’s “zero chance” Trump will be removed from office.McConnell has also pledged to work in close coordination with the White House and Trump’s legal team during the trial. Senators take oaths of impartiality at the start of impeachment trials, but the Senate majority leader and other Republicans, like Sen. Lindsey Graham, have said they will not approach the proceedings as impartial jurors. “I’m not an impartial juror. This is a political process,” McConnell said on Tuesday.That said, Pelosi’s unanticipated decision to withhold the articles of impeachment threw a curveball into Senate Republicans’ plans.Graham said in a tweet that Pelosi is engaging in “Constitutional extortion” and creating “chaos for the presidency.”Meanwhile, Trump tweeted: “Pelosi feels her phony impeachment HOAX is so pathetic she is afraid to present it to the Senate, which can set a date and put this whole SCAM into default if they refuse to show up! The Do Nothings are so bad for our Country!”McConnell sought to downplay any concerns about Pelosi’s decision to withhold the articles, telling reporters on Thursday: “I’m not anxious to have the trial … If she thinks her case is so weak she doesn’t want to send it over, throw me into that briar patch.”But Pelosi seems unfazed by the criticism.A reporter asked the California Democrat on Thursday whether she was concerned about the GOP accusing her of playing games with the impeachment process.”Frankly, I don’t care what the Republicans say,” Pelosi replied.
Former aspiring actor claims Harvey Weinstein sexually assaulted her at 16: Lawsuit
The movie mogul is facing accusations from dozens of women.December 20, 2019, 1:19 AM5 min read
A former aspiring actor and model has claimed in a new lawsuit filed Thursday that disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein sexually assaulted her when she was 16.
Kaja Sokola said the alleged assault occurred in 2002 and is actionable because of a new New York law that largely eliminates the statute of limitations for sex assault claims.
The lawsuit names Harvey Weinstein; his brother, Bob Weinstein; Disney and Miramax, the production company formed by the Weinsteins. Disney is the parent company of ABC News.
Sokola’s attorney Douglas Wigdor said his client would not participate in a recently announced settlement. Weinstein inked a $47 million settlement with a number of accusers last week, but did not admit fault as part of the agreement.
“While others may have decided to settle, albeit under some of the most offensive and one-sided terms, we hope that the filing of this complaint encourages other victims and the New York Attorney General to join us as we continue our efforts at holding Harvey Weinstein and his enablers accountable,” Wigdor said. “Kaja Sokola, who was sexually abused by Harvey Weinstein when she was only 16 years old, is entitled to justice, and we intend to see that she gets it.”
Sokola said she was 16 when she came to New York from Poland to work as a model and to try to become an actor.
“Not long after I arrived in New York, I was sexually abused by Harvey Weinstein,” she said in a statement. “I have been living with the trauma of that day ever since.”
A spokesperson for Weinstein did not immediately return a request for comment. He has always denied all accusations of nonconsensual sex.
Sokola filed her original claim in 2018 under a pseudonym as part of a class action, but is now filing separately to avoid the proposed global settlement.
Ben Brafman, Weinstein’s lawyer at the time, called her accusation “patently false” at the time it was filed, according to The New York Times.
Her lawsuit claims Harvey Weinstein and some of his enablers, including Robert Weinstein, Miramax and Disney, could have and should have stopped him “before he made me another of his victims.”
Disney acquired Miramax in 2003 and sold the company in 2010. Harvey Weinstein and his brother left Miramax in 2005. Disney has not yet responded to a request for comment.
“I have long since moved on from modeling and, because of Harvey Weinstein, gave up on my dreams of acting,” she said.
“I am grateful to do important work as a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist. As part of my professional education and experience, I have learned that some wounds never fully heal. Memories of sexual abuse are like a scar after a burn, but because the injury is to the psyche, it is invisible to everyone except the victim. By revealing my own scar, I hope to encourage others to speak up about their own experiences.”
Weinstein is facing criminal charges in New York due to accusations he raped a woman in a hotel room in 2013 and committed a forcible sex act on a second woman in 2006. He has pleaded not guilty and is expected to go on trial in January.
NEW YORK (AP) — A major evangelical Christian magazine founded by the late Rev. Billy Graham on Thursday published an editorial calling for President Donald Trump’s removal from office.The editorial in Christianity Today — coming one day after the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives made Trump the third president in American history to be impeached — raised fresh questions about the durability of his support among the conservative evangelicals who have proven to be a critical component of his political base.The magazine’s editorial, written by editor-in-chief Mark Galli, envisions a message to those evangelical Christians who have remained stalwart Trump backers “in spite of his blackened moral record.”“Remember who you are and whom you serve,” Galli’s editorial states. “Consider how your justification of Mr. Trump influences your witness to your Lord and Savior. Consider what an unbelieving world will say if you continue to brush off Mr. Trump’s immoral words and behavior in the cause of political expediency.”Galli’s editorial recalls that the magazine was starkly critical of former President Bill Clinton’s moral fiber during the Democrat’s 1998 impeachment proceedings, calling Clinton “morally unable to lead.”“Unfortunately, the words that we applied to Mr. Clinton 20 years ago apply almost perfectly to our current president,” the editorial stated.At the core of its indictment of Trump is what Galli described as the “profoundly immoral” act of seeking the assistance of the Ukrainian government in a bid “to harass and discredit” a Democratic rival, former Vice President Joe Biden.The magazine’s editor-in-chief took no position about whether Trump should be removed from office through a Senate conviction or a defeat at the ballot box next year, calling that a matter of “prudential judgment.”Christianity Today was founded more than six decades ago by Graham, a leader of the modern evangelical movement who counseled multiple past presidents on matters of faith.But those storied roots in the evangelical Christian community underscore the editorial’s potentially limited ability to pry Trump’s most ardent evangelical supporters from his side: One leader among pro-Trump Christians is Graham’s son, Rev. Franklin Graham.And Graham is hardly alone among the white evangelicals who have remained loyal to the president amid nearly three years of political tumult. A Pew Research Center survey in August found 77% of white evangelical Protestants approving of Trump’s job performance.The White House did not immediately return a request for comment on the editorial.Jenna Ellis, a senior legal adviser to Trump, tweeted that the editorial is “shameful and constitutionally ignorant.” “Pious ‘Never Trumpers’ who feel morally justified about this #impeachmentcircus are as morally reprehensible as Democrats,” Ellis tweeted. __Associated Press religion coverage receives support from the Lilly Endowment through the Religion News Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
20 stars who hate watching their own projects
Nicholas Hunt/WireImage; Theo Wargo/Getty Images; Dan MacMedan/Getty Images
Adam Driver made headlines this week for walking out of an NPR podcast interview after host Terry Gross wanted to show a clip of him singing in his upcoming film Marriage Story. The actor famously hates listening to or watching himself in his own movies, saying on the same podcast in 2015 that he can “drive myself and the other people around me crazy with the things I wanted to change or I wish I could change.”But Driver is far from the only actor with an aversion to seeing themselves on screen. Check out EW’s galley to find out why acclaimed performers like Meryl Streep and Joaquin Phoenix would rather stay away from their own movies.
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Joaquin Phoenix
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Out of an extensive catalogue, the Joker actor has only seen two of his own films: Her and The Master. He wanted to learn from his mistakes by watching himself, but admitted that the practice is “still something I struggle with.”
Meryl Streep
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Helena Bonham Carter
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Sweeney Todd, The King’s Speech, The Crown — Bonham Carter has been in plenty of acclaimed projects, but the actress is too focused on her next role to dwell on what she’s already done.”It’s not like I am going to do exactly the same part next year, so what’s the point?” she said. ”I love acting because I love doing it. You do it so that other people can watch it if they want to watch it.”
Lost’s Naveen Andrews and Matthew Fox
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Both Lost stars said they never watched their own show, as filming it was enough for them. “Maybe 20 years from now,” Andrews said about getting around to see it.Even without watching the whole series, Fox said he’s a fan. “I loved the story. I got it all from the script,” the actor said during an Emmys panel. “I just really am not comfortable watching myself.”
Andrew Lincoln
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The Walking Dead star famously avoided watching his own show — including episodes that didn’t even feature him — as he focused too much on his own mistakes. “My job here is just to be as truthful as I can in this role,” he told EW in 2013. “It’s the same thing as not reading press or reviews. You can’t do both. You can’t get good stuff and not get the bad as well.”
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Julianne Moore
Jim Spellman/WireImage
Moore is another actor who finds more joy in making a movie than watching it, calling the filming process her “big thrill.” As such, she hasn’t seen any of her own movies. If she ever does, her Oscar-winning role in Still Alice may be a good place to start.
Jesse Eisenberg
Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images
Count The Social Network and Zombieland star among those who do not like watch their own work once it goes from acting in front of a small crew to the big screen and a large audience. When reflecting on his Lex Luthor role in 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Eisenberg told Business Insider, “I really like thinking that you’re working in this bubble and I can experience these personal emotions without thinking that it’s going to be scrutinized by, in some cases, a lot of people.”
Emma Stone
Dan MacMedan/Getty Images
Eisenberg’s Zombieland: Double Tap costar hated watching herself in her breakout film Easy A so much that she had to leave. “I went to a friends and family screening to see it and I had to get up and walk out,” she said in Variety’s Actors on Actors last year. “Who wants to watch themselves for that long?”
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Nicole Kidman
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
Other actors leave the theater to escape their faces on screen, but Kidman literally left the country after watching her 2008 film Australia. She “squirmed” in her seat during the Sydney premiere, then immediately left “straight on a plane.” It was only the second film she starred in that she’s watched, along with another Baz Luhrman picture, Moulin Rouge.
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Jared Leto
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Even after winning an Oscar for Dallas Buyers Club, Leto said he hadn’t watched the film. “You have so little input and control of the final product once you’re done that I feel like I just would rather leave it alone,” he said in 2014. And given all the flak Leto caught for his Joker portrayal, maybe it’s for the best he doesn’t watch 2016’s Suicide Squad.
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Maggie Smith
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The legendary actress doesn’t like watching herself, but she’s open to making an exception for Downton Abbey. Why? “They gave me the boxed set. And I’m going to do all sorts of things now, ‘cause I’m free!'” said Smith, who played the beloved Dowager Countess on the show for six seasons.
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James Van Der Beek
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Unlike other actors who avoid their own projects because they felt too attached to the process, Van Der Beek never watched the end of Dawson’s Creek because he felt detached from it.”I’m not as invested in that because it was something that I did, not something that I wrote,” he said in 2017. “I was a part of it. I felt like a passenger on the whole thing.”
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Javier Bardem
Darren Eagles/WireImage
The Spanish actor, who nabbed an Oscar for his No Country for Old Men role, said he can’t get over his appearance on screen. “The fact that I like to make characters doesn’t mean that I like to watch my characters being made, my performance,” he told GQ in 2012. “I can’t even watch that f—ing nose, that f—ing voice, those ridiculous eyes. I can’t handle that.”
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Megan Fox
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Fox has said she freaks out when faced with her own films, in addition to photographs. “I don’t look at anything,” she revealed. “I panic if there is a monitor in the room. I immediately go into, like, an anxiety attack.” It was so bad that the starlet could only stomach Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen after chugging champagne.
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Zac Efron
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Although he can appreciate his own stuff “years down the road,” Efron told Collider in 2010 that typically he obsesses over “every single flaw” when first screening his work.
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Johnny Depp
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Depp admitted that there are cons to not seeing his own movies, saying “you miss out on a lot of your friends’ incredible work.” But ultimately, the actor wants to protect his own sanity. “It would just harm me,” he said of screening his own stuff. “I would rather stay as ignorant as possible about the result of anything because once you’re done playing that character, it’s really not your business anymore.”
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Robert Pattinson
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The actor has previously said he doesn’t bother with watching himself, likening it to “self-flagellation.” But he did have to watch himself for the Twilight DVD commentary and his reactions were hilariously honest. “I didn’t actually know they were rolling when we were doing this scene,” Pattinson recalled at one point, “I was just kinda cold.”
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Reese Witherspoon
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The Morning Show actress said it was “torture” viewing her own work. “Why would you want to watch yourself being stupid and pretending to be somebody else?” she said on Chelsea Lately.
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India protests: Three dead and 1,200 arrested as demonstrations rage against citizenship law
At least three people have died and 1,200 have been arrested amid protests against India’s controversial new citizenship law.
Demonstrators defied a ban on assembly and took to the streets in many of the country’s biggest cities as anger erupted over the law, which excludes Muslims.
Two people were killed during clashes with police in Mangalore, a city in the southern Karnataka state, where police fired warning shots and used tear gas and batons to disperse a large group of protesters.
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Protesters also clashed with police in parts of Lucknow, the state capital of northern Uttar Pradesh state, where police said one person died from a gunshot fired by a demonstrator.
The protesters torched a bus, hurled rocks at police and damaged some police posts and vehicles, authorities said.
Authorities have pushed back by setting up roadblocks and disrupting internet and phone services, including in parts of New Delhi.
They have also tightened restrictions on protesters in the northeastern border state of Assam, where the protests began last week, and have imposed a curfew in some places.
The new citizenship law applies to Hindus, Christians and other religious minorities who are in India illegally but can demonstrate religious persecution in Muslim-majority Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, however it excludes Muslims.
The legislation has sparked anger at what many see as the government’s push to bring India closer to a Hindu state.
Critics say it is the latest effort by prime minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist-led government to marginalise India’s 200 million Muslims, and a violation of the country’s secular constitution.
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Mr Modi has defended it as a humanitarian gesture.
Rather than containing uprisings, the protest bans appear to be helping them spread – from Assam and a handful of university campuses and Muslim enclaves in the capital to campuses and cities from coast to coast.
Zoya Hasan, a political scientist in New Delhi, said: “I think what is wonderful is that young people all in their 20s have so vividly understood the game plan, which is to divide people.
“What people are saying is that you are going to divide, we are going to multiply.”
Some of the country’s divided opposition parties have found common ground in condemning what they say has been a heavy-handed official response to the protests.
In New Delhi, Yogendra Yadav, a well-known political activist and the chief of the Swaraj India party, was among 1,200 protesters detained at the city’s iconic Red Fort and the surrounding historic district.
Anil Kumar, a police spokesman, said all the protesters were released later on Thursday.
Additional reporting by Associated Press.
The restoration of the Ghent Altarpiece shows the enduring allure of Jan van Eyck
I’m standing in a twilit room in Ghent’s Museum of Fine Arts, watching the meticulous restoration of one of the most magnificent artworks of all time. In the new year, the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb will be returned to St Bavo’s Cathedral here in Ghent (its home, off and on, for the past six centuries) but in the meantime, anyone is welcome to come and witness this painstaking restoration process as it happens. Stripped of its dull layers of varnish and its countless clumsy alterations, this medieval masterpiece has never looked so vibrant, so alive. For the first time in centuries, you’re seeing it the way the Van Eyck brothers painted it. And what an amazing painting it is!
Standing alongside me is Helene Dubois. She first saw this painting as a schoolgirl, nearly 40 years ago. It inspired her to become an art restorer. “Seeing it up close was an incredible experience,” she tells me. Now, half a lifetime later, she’s in charge of this project, the culmination of her life’s work so far. Talking to her, it’s clear this is an emotional assignment. So why does this painting inspire such reverence, such devotion? Why do so many people get so excited about the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb?
Ever since it was first unveiled in St Bavo’s Cathedral in 1432, the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb has been an endless source of fascination – an obsession fuelled by the enduring riddle of what on earth it might mean. Six hundred years since its creation, scholars are still squabbling about the symbolism of its imagery, but it’s generally agreed that, broadly speaking, it’s a depiction of the apocalypse – the end of the world as described in the Book of Revelation. The main panel depicts Jesus Christ, transformed into the Lamb of God, surrounded by all the people he’s decided to save on Judgement Day. It’s an insight into the medieval mind, a medieval view of heaven.
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A day after being impeached, Trump calls House vote a ‘phony deal’ and a ‘hoax’
“I don’t feel like I’m being impeached,” Trump told reporters. December 20, 2019, 1:02 AM5 min read
A day after being impeached, President Donald Trump on Tuesday continued calling the historic House vote a “hoax,” repeating that “it doesn’t feel like I’m being impeached.”
“I don’t feel like I’m being impeached because it’s a hoax, it’s a set up, it’s a horrible thing they did,” Trump said Thursday speaking to reporters in the Oval Office.
He sat alongside Jeff Van Drew, who after voting against the president’s impeachment as a New Jersey Democrat Wednesday evening, came to the White House to announce that he was switching to the Republican Party.
Trump went on to say that his impeachment was a “phony deal” and that Democrats “cheapen the word.”
“That should never again happen to another president and I think you will see some very interesting things happen over the coming few days and weeks,” Trump said.
The blueprint for the upcoming Senate impeachment trial is still being negotiated and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday doubled down on her position that the House will not send the Senate the just-passed articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump until she sees “the process that is set forth in the Senate” — how a trial would be structured.
As Pelosi spoke, Trump tweeted, “Pelosi feels her phony impeachment HOAX is so pathetic she is afraid to present it to the Senate, which can set a date and put this whole SCAM into default if they refuse to show up! The Do Nothings are so bad for our Country!”
When asked what his strategy is for the impeachment trial in the Senate now that the House has voted, Trump said that the Senate is “very capable.”
“We think that what they did is wrong. We think that what they did is unconstitutional, and the Senate is very, very capable,” Trump said.
On Thursday evening, President Donald Trump tweeted that he wants an “immediate trial” on impeachment in the Senate, saying Democrats have “zero proof of anything.”
The president then fired off another tweet claiming that the Democrats “don’t even want to go to trial.”
Trump also indicated that White House counsel Pat Cipollone would be named the lead lawyer for the impeachment trial in the Senate and he said, “I think so, yes.”
He added, “We have a couple of others but he’s been fantastic as White House counsel.”
Josh Gross is the managing partner at digital product studio Planetary and its child company, Regular, the low-cost, high quality studio for small businesses.
Do you remember as a kid going to the grocery store with your parents and being just totally overwhelmed by the bright, loud packaging of products on shelf after shelf, aisle after aisle?
I certainly do. Each product had a brand — you’d recognize the Kix by its bright red box and Tide by its loud orange bottle. Every package screamed its brand name at you.
Branded packaging as we know it hasn’t been around that long. While people have been packaging goods for millennia, trademarked printed boxes, tins and shrink-wrapped containers were only invented in the late 1800s — less than 150 years ago, beginning with Uneeda Biscuits around 1896.
When branded packaging was invented, and up until very recently, its purpose and value to nearly every industry made a ton of good sense. The average consumer would shop in a catalog, browsing ads and offerings, or in a store, perusing shelves of products. The more a product stood out and set itself apart, the more memorable it would be and the more likely it would be purchased. Good packaging made products easy to recommend and spread by sharing visually.
And then, the internet came along.
Our team recently launched our new studio product, Regular, a service directed at small businesses hitting their growth inflection point. As we began to design our own website and work on branding, we did a lot of research into branding trends for consumer packaged goods, and what we uncovered was surprising.
We found was that there is a surprising movement towards “unbranding” — specifically choosing not to create a strong association between a product and its maker. Instead of bright packaging, large logos and stamped products, many companies are now going the other direction by operating without logos and offering minimal (or no) packaging.
Pens from MUJI (Photo: Michael/Flickr)
One of the earliest companies to adopt this mindset was Japanese home goods store MUJI, whose name literally means “No Brand” (it doesn’t get more literal than that). Most of its products come unpackaged with just a small price tag, or in minimal packaging with a single informational label (e.g., “lotion,” “body soap”) to identify its contents.
But MUJI has been since the 1980s, so why are we talking about this now?
Antonio Conte believes it will be “important” to end the year at the top of the table and that the club is building “a solid and lasting foundation”.
Ahead of their final match of 2019, Inter are three points behind Juventus in Serie A but could catch up with them if they beat Genoa at San Siro tomorrow.
“I always said it was important for us to arrive at Christmas in the best possible way,” Conte said at a press conference.
“We’ve had some problems and we are facing them in the right way. The fact that they emerged made the group and the players very responsible, they understood that they had to give more.
“It would be a great sign for us and for the whole environment. I was very worried, because we were forced to make decisions, always focus on the players themselves and take great risks.
“I said we had to get to Christmas in the best way. I think we are there, it would be fantastic if we could win the game in such a significant emergency.”
Because of some players in doubt and the ones who are definitely absent from his squad, the former Chelsea boss said he would have to wait until tomorrow to pick his XI.
“We will make some assessments during the last hours, we are even less covered because of the suspensions on [Marcelo] Brozovic and Lautaro Martinez.
“In these situations, we are able to give our best, I am sure that tomorrow, with the help of the public, we will do our best to finish the year in the best possible way.”
Teenagers Sebastiano Esposito and Lucien Agoume have been thrust into the first team as a result, and Conte has faith in their ability to “always give their all” for the Nerazzurri.
“Those two have had the opportunity to train with us and have had a significant development, especially Esposito, but also Agoume.
“They are young, they have deservedly made their debuts. They are growing up and are two guys who could potentially become part of the foundations at Inter for years to come.
“I believe in them, I hope and know that, regardless of everything, the answer will always be positive. They always give their all.
“Since the beginning of the year, our goal has always been to become a credible team,” he added. “The opponents should know that it will be a tough game against us.
“We have started a journey and are still working on it. We know very well that along the way you can hit a rough patch and obstacles that will try to stop you. We must be good at continuing through those.
“It will need patience, mostly from me. We must build, sometimes even if you win you are destroying something. Sometimes the win deceives you and you know that underneath you are being destroyed.
“We must lay a solid and lasting foundation, something that can become important over time.
“In five months, we’ve worked hard, given a lot and spending a lot. I have never found anything already prepared, that’s my story. We are doing a great job.
“It will be important to leave a trace, as I have already said. Work culture and professionalism. We will have to leave this behind when they get tired of us.”
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Thiago Motta is confident “results will come” if Genoa continue the same way, arguing they can stop Inter forward Romelu Lukaku “through teamwork”.
Genoa lost to city rivals Sampdoria last weekend, but Motta thinks the 1-0 defeat was “undeserved” and “expects” a response from his players against the title challengers this weekend.
“The team are doing well, I expect a reaction after the defeat in the derby. It was a loss that I felt was undeserved,” he said at a press conference.
“Against Inter we will play to win. If we keep moving forward on this path, the results will come.”
The Grifone’s opponents are without a host of key players, but the former Inter midfielder said the scenario was similar for his own team.
“They will have several absentees, just like us. I hope the performance tomorrow will be along the lines we played against Juventus and Napoli.
“I have good memories from them, we did extraordinary things. Now, however, I am only thinking about deploying the best team possible to put in a good performance.”
Antonio Conte has led the visitors on a serious charge towards the Scudetto this season, and the Italo-Brazilian is looking forward to facing him.
“He is a great coach and is proving it. His teams are always difficult to play against; they attack with many men.
“I have a lot of respect for him and I hope it will be a good match. No [I don’t have any problems with him], and I don’t think he’s ever had any with me.
“There’s always been a direct communication. I felt good with him, like I did with all my coaches.”
Lukaku has scored 10 goals in 16 games this season, but Motta is sure Genoa have what it takes to stop him on Saturday.
“We will stop him how everyone else is stopped. He is a great player, but we can stop him through teamwork.
“He moves a lot; he can shoot from distance and in the box, he is really dangerous.”
Inevitably, given their struggles this term, the Rossoblu are being tipped to make several moves in the transfer market next month…
“We will talk about the market at the right time. From tomorrow, together with the club, we will make the best possible decisions.”
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Rolando Maran admits Cagliari are “still hurt by the defeat” to Lazio on Monday but insists a similar performance will get them the three points against Udinese.
Cagliari conceded twice during stoppage time at the Sardegna Arena earlier in the week to lose 2-1 to Lazio.
The “anger” shown at the training ground since then, however, makes Maran believe they will bounce back immediately.
“To forget about those final seven minutes against Lazio, we need to perform like we did on Monday,” the coach said at a press conference.
“With a performance like that, it is easier to get the points in Udine.
“The anger I saw in training is the right kind, you need the look of a team that knows what they want. We’re still hurt by the defeat.
“We have to prove, if needed, that those minutes in the stoppage time was a rare case.”
The 56-year-old warned his side they had to be “careful” against a “physical” Udinese on Saturday.
“Udinese are a physical team. They have found their identity. They also played a good match against Juventus, especially in the second half.
“The further we come, the more difficult the games will be. It will be a match where we’ll have to be careful.”
Maran has a very long list of absences, but he preferred to focus on the players who were available tomorrow.
“We have to think about what’s going to happen on the pitch. Who’s there and who can play,” he added. “I never cry about absentees. I never did.
“Of course, every coach dreams about having everyone fit. But we focus on who’s present. On the ones who wants to show that the whole squad are valuable.
“I know eight players will be missing, but we’re not crying about it.
“[Valter] Birsa, [Fabrizio] Cacciatore, [Luca] Ceppitelli, [Lucas] Castro, [Robin] Olsen, [Nahitan] Nandez and [Leonardo] Pavoletti are not going to be there.
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Napoli midfielder Piotr Zielinski believes that Rino Gattuso’s decision to revert to a 4-3-3 system will benefit everyone. “It’s our natural formation.”
The Partenopei played in a 4-3-3 for three years under Maurizio Sarri, but recently departed coach Carlo Ancelotti adopted a 4-4-2, which didn’t quite work for many of the players.
“I think we are working on our old system, the 4-3-3, it’s our natural formation, and it’s where I feel most comfortable. My natural role is on the left hand side of a midfield three, and with Gattuso I believe I can interpret the role better,” the Polish international told Radio Kiss Kiss.
Zielinski asserts that Napoli haven’t been good enough this season and they need a win against Sassuolo before the Christmas break.
“Gattuso is recharging us, and this is what we need to start again. We have to give a strong performance on Sunday.
“We aren’t looking for alibis. The team is aware that the blame for the results is above all ours for what we’ve produced so far.
“To tell the truth, in some games we have deserved to win, but if we didn’t it means we were not up to it.”
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Ismael Bennacer reveals he is “learning a lot” from Lucas Biglia as he continues to establish himself in Milan’s midfield.
The Algeria international arrived from Empoli over the summer and, after a tough start to life at San Siro, has gone on to play 11 times in Serie A this season.
“Now I’m playing more, I want to do well,” he told Milan TV.
“I know my teammates better and the people who work at Milanello.
“I’m learning a lot; I have more belief in myself now. I’ll bring the ball with me when I need to, if not, I try to turn the play. I can still improve a lot.”
The 22-year-old recently displaced Biglia but thanked the Argentine for mentoring him.
“I speak a lot with him, mostly when I fail actually. He is helping me a lot and I’m learning from him.
“When you have teammates like that, it’s always positive. I speak to the whole group. We are a team and I’m not any different.
“Of course, I am closer with some than others, but I speak and laugh with everyone.”
He stressed they were playing for the fans and coach Stefano Pioli, who has improved results since replacing Marco Giampaolo in October.
“We need to give everything for them [the fans]. I hope that the match on Sunday will go well.
“We also need to give everything for our coach, who is working very hard. When things are not going very well, it’s always the coach that has to pay for it.”
Bennacer is up for the African Footballer of the Year award, having helped Algeria win the Africa Cup of Nations earlier in 2019.
“I’m happy to be among the 10 candidates. Now I need to continue my work, to be on that list every year.”
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President James Pallotta’s attempts to sell AS Roma to the Friedkin Group have hit a roadblock, as the two can’t agree on a price, claims Il Sole 24 Ore newspaper.
It has been speculated that Pallotta was ready to sell the club to the American company for €510m for a 51% share.
However, financial paper Il Sole 24 Ore believes that now there’s a split when it comes to the overall valuation of the club.
Pallotta is thought to value Roma at close to €800m, when taking into account what he has injected into the club and the money spent on the proposed new stadium.
The Friedkin Group have reportedly presented an offer of €750m, and Il Sole 24 Ore state that Dan Friedkin, owner of the group, is of the opinion that the beleaguered stadium project shouldn’t hold that much financial value.
The paper believes that if a compromise isn’t found, the Texan group will walk away from the deal, with no further buyers interested in Roma.
Pallotta became President of the club in 2012.
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Fiorentina are interested in bringing Patrick Cutrone back to Italy after just six months at Wolverhampton Wanderers, it’s reported.
According to La Nazione newspaper, the Viola have enquired about the striker who turns 22 next month.
He came up through the Milan youth academy and was sold to Wolves for €18m plus bonuses at the end of July.
Cutrone has just three goals and four assists in 23 competitive games for the Premier League side, struggling for regular playing time.
Fiorentina had already been tracking Cutrone when he was still at Milan, but he was hesitant to join another Serie A side, being a passionate Rossoneri supporter.
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German newspaper Bild have confirmed reports that emerged in Italy last month suggesting Milan offered Ralf Rangnick full powers as coach and director of sport.
The story originally appeared on November 27 on Calciomercato.com and today Bild backed up the claims.
Former Stuttgart, Schalke and RB Leipzig coach Rangnick is known for his insistence on controlling all aspects of the side, from the transfer strategy to training and nutrition.
The German would be coach, chief scout and also director of sport for the Rossoneri.
It would essentially make the likes of Paolo Maldini and Zvonimir Boban irrelevant, cutting down the salary bill significantly and streamlining the structure of the club.
Rangnick is currently Head of Sport and Development Soccer for the Red Bull organisation, which owns both RB Leipzig and Austrians RB Salzburg.
Although he could only officially take the Milan job in June, it’s reported he’d begin working behind the scenes in January to identify the areas where the squad needs to be changed.
According to Bild, he has not yet accepted, but is open to discussing the situation.
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Borussia Dortmund are interested in signing Napoli’s Dries Mertens, as Paco Alcacer struggles for fitness, reports Sky Sport Italia’s Gianluca Di Marzio.
The Spanish striker has only started seven games for Dortmund this season, as he continues to struggle to gain full fitness.
This has led the German side to look at signing Mertens in January.
As for Mertens, his contract expires next June, with reports of an extension yet to be decided.
Di Marzio states the Belgian hopes to remain in Naples, but an offer from the German side may be too good to refuse.
It is thought Mertens wouldn’t play for another Serie A club out of respect for Napoli, who signed him from PSV Eindhoven in the summer of 2013, and that the Bundesliga outfit might be the ideal solution.
Inter have long been linked with a swoop for ‘Ciro’ Mertens.
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Caretaker manager Luca Gotti says despite hovering around the relegation zone, Udinese have time to turn things around. “We still have 23 games left to improve.”
The Zebrette have lost three of their last five games in Serie A and are just two points above the relegation zone as they face Cagliari tomorrow at 14:00 GMT. You can read the match preview here.
“We have to start taking points, the league table doesn’t look good, but there are still another 23 games left to be played, and we have the time to improve,” said Gotti in his press conference.
“It would be important to win tomorrow, but if we should lose and then have a great run of results, that would be fine too.”
Udinese lost to Juventus last weekend, and were 3-0 down by half time, but Gotti says he liked what he saw in the second half.
“The first half against Juve was very negative, but in the second I saw some positive signs. We will start from there. I’ve seen the lads during the week and I have some indications from where I will start.”
Opponents Cagliari conceded two late goals against Lazio on Monday night, going from a 1-0 victory to losing 2-1 in stoppages.
“I have no idea how they’ll react. They changed their objectives last summer, and important players arrived,” continued Gotti.
“They’ve just come from 13 games undefeated in the league, and they have great potential. We are talking about a very good team and things are going well for them at the minute.
“Given how they’ve reversed score lines in the last minutes of games, with Lazio it went the other way, and this could have an effect on the team.”
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Join us for the build-up and action from tonight’s Serie A game, as troubled Fiorentina welcome fourth-placed Roma with revamped line-ups.
It kicks off at the Stadio Franchi at 19.45 GMT in the Week 17 fixtures.
If you are on a mobile device or tablet, then follow the Liveblog HERE.
Vincenzo Montella’s Viola career remains in the balance and he could lose his job after facing his former club, where he was both player and coach.
He was already hanging by a thread until last week’s stoppage-time Dusan Vlahovic equaliser with Inter.
Roma climbed up to fourth place with 10 points in the last four rounds and will be out for revenge, having lost a Coppa Italia quarter-final here 7-1 last season.
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Edin Dzeko warns Fiorentina “are aggressive and playing on home turf,” but Roma will not change their style of football.
It kicks off at 19.45 GMT, click here for the line-ups and LIVEBLOG.
“It is always important to win, plus this is the last game before the Christmas break and we’ve got to give our all,” Dzeko told Roma TV.
“Fiorentina are aggressive, they’re playing on home turf and the goal they scored in stoppages against Inter will give them an extra boost. We know it is never easy to win here.
“We need to focus on our own performance, give 100 per cent and hope for the best. We play our football in any situation, that is our strength.”
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Italy coach Roberto Mancini confirms Alessandro Florenzi and Federico Bernardeschi will be going to Euro 2020, whilst Mario Balotelli “needs to do more.”
Roma full-back Florenzi and Juventus creative midfielder Bernardeschi have struggled with their club sides in recent months, but Mancini has no doubts.
“I don’t know if they will move in January, for me it’s difficult to say, but I can say that for the national team they have always played well, and for us they are two certainties,” the CT told Tuttomercatoweb.
Balotelli has endured a difficult start to the season at Brescia, and Mancini is not convinced by his Euro 2020 credentials.
“Things have gone a little better recently, but he needs to give more. Now we have Ciro Immobile and Andrea Belotti that have always played well.”
The Azzurri boss is in Riyadh for the Italian Super Cup to be played between Juventus and Lazio on Sunday.
“It will be a great game. The fact that they met two weeks ago can make it a case of revenge for Juve,” he said, referring to Lazio’s 3-1 Serie A victory.
“Ronaldo and Immobile are the principal gladiators of the two teams, but I think that they are both in form and it will be a great challenge between all 22 players, and not only two.”
Mancini’s Azzurri qualified for Euro 2020 with a 100% record, including a 9-1 win against Armenia, but believes there needs to be more Italians playing in Serie A.
“It’s the hope for every national team coach to have many players available. At the moment there aren’t enough, the percentage is quite low.
“We have found a good team base anyway, we’ve got many players to call, but the hope for the future is this.”
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Fiorentina director Giancarlo Antognoni admits he is “a little worried” ahead of tonight’s match with Roma.
It kicks off at 19.45 GMT, click here for the line-ups and LIVEBLOG.
The last-gasp equaliser with Inter last week means the Viola have one point from five Serie A rounds.
“We’re a little worried at the table, we’re trying to improve it and hopefully that will happen tonight,” Antognoni told Sky Sport Italia.
“It’s difficult, we are missing several players, but so are Roma. We can do it. We’ll see what happens.”
Fiorentina have only 17 points from 16 Serie A games this season, with four wins, five draws and seven defeats.
They are hovering just four points above the relegation zone.
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