• Fred Savage has been dropped as an executive producer and director of the rebooted "The Wonder Years" amid allegations of inappropriate conduct, the television show's production company has confirmed. "Recently, we were made aware of allegations of inappropriate conduct by Fred Savage, and as is policy, an investigation was launched. Upon its completion, the decision was made to terminate his employment as an executive producer and director of 'The Wonder Years,'" a statement Saturday from 20th Television said. 20th Television did not immediately provide any additional details. A spokesperson for Savage did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Savage, 45, was a child star when he appeared in the original series, which ran on ABC from 1988-93 and followed a suburban white family in the late 1960s and early 1970s. A new version of the show, which features Don Cheadle as the narrator, premiered last fall. The new series revolves around a Black family living in Montgomery, Ala., in the late 1960s.
• The Zac Brown Band will replace country legend Willie Nelson on the closing day of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. The 89-year-old Nelson posted on his band's website on Friday that "due to a positive Covid case in the Willie Nelson Family Band," two upcoming shows scheduled for Friday and Saturday will be postponed, and his performance today at Jazz Fest will be canceled. Nelson was scheduled to close the Gentilly Stage -- the same stage where his son, Lukas Nelson, is set to perform earlier in the day with his band, Promise of the Real. The Zac Brown Band is a country group from Atlanta that's best known for songs like "Chicken Fried," "Highway 20 Ride," "Knee Deep" and "Goodbye in Her Eyes." The news comes after Melissa Etheridge announced Thursday that she would not be able to perform Saturday at Jazz Fest because of "COVID hitting my crew." Mavis Staples was to perform during that time period instead. And on Friday, legendary New Orleans bass player George Porter Jr. said on Instagram that he had the coronavirus and was out for the rest of the festival. The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate reported that Porter played multiple shows during Jazz Fest's first weekend and had a number of performances scheduled outside the festival during the second weekend. While it attracts national and international talent such as Nelson and Etheridge, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival is also known for showcasing musical acts and genres found in Louisiana -- such as zydeco, gospel, blues and jazz.
In this Sept. 19, 2015 file photo, Willie Nelson performs at Farm Aid 30 at FirstMerit Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island in Chicago. (Photo by Rob Grabowski/Invision/AP, File)
Fred Savage attends the 22nd Annual "Taste For A Cure" held at Beverly Wilshire Hotel on Friday, April 28, 2017, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by John Salangsang/Invision/AP)