• Ariana Grande returns to her acting roots with an appearance in Jim Carrey's series Kidding. The Grammy-winning singer with the big vocal range guests in season two of the Showtime series that returns on Nov. 3. And yes, she sings. Carrey told a TV critics' gathering on Friday that Grande was game to be silly and have fun. Carrey plays children's TV host Mr. Pickles who has a difficult family life off-screen. Carrey joked that he's sure Grande was nervous singing with him. He calls Grande "a singular artist" whose vocal ability is like magic while he says he croaked out his performance. In an Instagram post, Grande called it "the most special experience of my life." She said she's been a fan of Carrey since childhood. Grande began her career as an actress, appearing on Broadway in the musical 13 and two Nickelodeon TV series.
• Actor Kevin Spacey read a poem about a worn-out and dejected boxer during an unexpected performance at a Rome museum Friday night, weeks after a criminal sexual misconduct case against him collapsed in Massachusetts. Spacey's appearance at the National Roman Museum was not publicly announced in advance. The museum had posted a cryptic notice on its website saying a two-time Oscar winner would be reading works by Italian poet Gabriele Tinti during a rare evening event -- but didn't name the person. During the reading, Spacey stood next to an ancient Greek bronze statue of a battered fighter while reciting Tinti's The Boxer. The poem is about a fighter left bleeding at ringside, cast aside despite previous glory. Video clips published in Italian media and by U.S. news site The Daily Beast show Spacey reading the verses, including: "The more you are wounded, the greater you are. And the more empty you are. They used me for their entertainment, fed on shoddy stuff. Life was over in a moment." Tinti, the 38-year-old poet, works with museums to create poems as tributes to specific art works, and he wrote the poem Spacey read as a tribute to the Greek statue the actor stood by Friday, Boxer at Rest. The poet told The Daily Beast he sent the poem to Spacey through a friend but never expected him to give a public reading. The poem has been read at museums before, by actor Robert Davi at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles and by Italian actor Franco Nero at the National Roman Museum. Prosecutors in Massachusetts last month dropped an indecent assault and battery charge against Spacey after the accuser invoked his Fifth Amendment right not to testify about text messages the defense claimed were deleted. The former House of Cards star is still being investigated in London and Los Angeles over several allegations and faces a federal lawsuit alleging he assaulted a massage therapist.
A Section on 08/05/2019