Pallbearers carry the casket out of Greater Grace Temple at the end of the funeral for Aretha Franklin, Friday, Aug. 31, 2018, in Detroit. Franklin died Aug. 16, 2018 of pancreatic cancer at the age of 76. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson) LAS VEGAS, NV - SEPTEMBER 23: Recording artist Drake performs onstage at the 2016 iHeartRadio Music Festival at T-Mobile Arena on September 23, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images) Items from 'The Office' up for auction SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - AUGUST 27: Jane Fonda wears Chopard at the Sydney Opera House on August 27, 2018 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Caroline McCredie/Getty Images for Chopard) LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 18: Actor Tom Hanks attends the People's Choice Awards 2017 at Microsoft Theater on January 18, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images for People's Choice Awards) The long, and now controversial, career of Ellen DeGeneres Producer Ellen DeGeneres attends Netflix's season 1 premiere of "Green Eggs and Ham" at Hollywood Post 43 on November 3, 2019 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by VALERIE MACON / AFP) (Photo by VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images) De Niro: I'd like to punch Trump in the face Story highlights De Niro was bleeped at the Tony Awards His comments were both hailed and nailed (CNN) — Tell us how you really feel Robert De Niro. The venerable actor ended up getting bleeped Sunday night at the Tony Awards when he dropped some f-bombs about President Donald Trump while introducing a performance by Bruce Springsteen. “First, I wanna say, ‘f**k Trump,’” De Niro said. “It’s no longer ‘Down with Trump,’ it’s ‘f**k Trump.’” Tony Awards 2018 highlights The comments, which were not censored in the Australian telecast, earned De Niro a standing ovation from the crowd at New York’s Radio City Music Hall and stirred conversation on social media. Hey America, Want to know why Robert De Niro said "f-k Trump" last night at the Tonys? Because he was born in Trump's hometown of NYC. Like all New Yorkers, he knows @realDonaldTrump If you don't feel the same way about him yet you don't know him like New Yorkers do But you will — Stevens (@BCStevens77) June 11, 2018 PSA: Robert De Niro gave a big old F&@K Trump at the Tonys since is was bleeped our for the folks at home! #TonyAwards — JT Diaz (@jt_diaz) June 11, 2018 “Robert De Niro is my favorite rapper,” artist Ferrari Sheppard jokingly tweeted. But not everyone was a fan of the actor speaking his mind. Robert De Niro you have again cheapened yourself & embarrassed well meaning liberals everywhere! Do you think being so vulgar on live tv does anything but destroy your cause? You probably don’t cause your Hate is all you have to share. SAD! https://t.co/tLWwGeljkc via @variety — GuysForTrump (@GaysForTrumpFL) June 11, 2018 “No matter who the President is or what your politics, this behavior is not merely inappropriate for this (or any) event; it’s juvenile & stupid, even deranged,” writer Mark Tapson tweeted. “And yet it was met with a standing ovation. These snobs think this is somehow courageous.” It’s not the first time De Niro has spoken out against Trump. In January his speech at the National Board of Review Annual Awards Gala included a profanity-laced rand about the President. Robert De Niro unleashes profanity-laced rant against Trump “Our baby-in-chief – the j***-off-in-chief, I call him – has put the press under siege, ridiculing it and trying to discredit it through outrageous attacks and lies,” De Niro said. “”This f***ing idiot is the President. It’s ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’ – the guy is a f***ing fool … our baby-in-chief – the ‘J******-in-chief’ I call him.”<doc-sep>“A lot of Canadians would be more than a bit upset at the kind of attitude portrayed toward Canada,” he said, referring to what Trump and his advisers have said. “When somebody is taking on Canada, they’re taking Toronto on, too … but you won’t hear any f-bombs from me.”<doc-sep>Robert De Niro on stage at the Tony Awards in New York City, June 10, 2018. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters) Left-wing De Niro and his left-wing audience, safely clapping inside their bubble Each year, the Tony Awards takes the nation by drizzle. The ratings are always middling — this year, they rose slightly to 6.3 million total viewers (by contrast, Game 4 of the NBA Finals drew 12.9 million viewers). Few Americans have actually seen the shows featured at the Tonys. Attendance at Broadway shows has been effectively stagnant for at least a decade: In 2006–07, 10.8 million Americans went to a musical on Broadway; in 2016-17, that number was 11.3 million. Advertisement And the Tony Awards demonstrate just how niche their appeal is. The best musical award went to The Band’s Visit, about an Egyptian band visiting an Israeli town; the best play went to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, another knock-off of J. K. Rowling’s hit series; the best musical revival went to Once on This Island, and the best revival of a play went to Angels in America, Tony Kushner’s tendentious and overlong saga about the plight of gay Americans. All of which shows what Broadway has become: spectaculars for kids, and adult shows for niche audiences. Long gone are the days of Oklahoma! or even Phantom of the Opera. Broadway has niched itself. Advertisement It’s not just the shows. It’s the way Broadway has become a political rally for Democratic priorities. It’s difficult to forget the Hamilton cast’s attempt to slam Mike Pence last year, of course. And this year’s Tonys featured Robert De Niro shouting “F*** Trump” to a standing ovation; the pro-gun-control students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School performing “Seasons of Love”; Andrew Garfield telling Christians to bake that cake; and, on the red carpet, actress Noma Dumezweni telling the assembled media that President Trump wasn’t welcome to visit Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which will surely break his heart. So, why have the Tonys broken so far out of the political mainstream? Probably for the same reason Hollywood has: narrowcasting. Thanks to the fragmentation of audiences in the entertainment industry — there’s no longer an oligopoly of distribution methods in television or movies — it’s far easier to cater to an audience of die-hards than to try to broadcast. The same holds true on Broadway, where it’s easier to cater to a niche audience for Angels in America or go for broke on SpongeBob Squarepants than to try for a show that carries broad appeal throughout the age and demographic range. Sometimes Broadway has a breakout that begins as a niche audience — Hamilton would fall into this category — but typically, Broadway focuses on either niche audiences or blockbuster children’s shows. This makes a certain amount of economic sense. In his book Skin in the Game, Nassim Nicholas Taleb explains the concept of “renormalization” to show how a motivated minority can dominate a less-motivated majority. Take, for example, a family of four with a sister (let’s call her Lisa Simpson) will eat organic food. Three out of the four members of the family aren’t particularly interested in organic eating, but they’ll all eat organic in order to demonstrate tolerance for their animal-friendly sister. Now the Simpsons family goes to a party and tells the Flanders that they will eat only organic; there are only a few other families showing up at the party, so the Flanders think it’s cheaper and easier and less annoying to simply go organic. So the entire block is eating organic for the night, thanks to Lisa. Broad-minded, risk-taking artists would actually take risks by moving out of their comfort zones and engaging audiences that won’t give them standing ovations merely for shouting epithets at a Republican president. The same holds true on Broadway. There are motivated niche groups who will go to the theater only if they see a show that reflects their political values (the theatergoing public is disproportionately gay, for example). Then there are travelers who just want to go to a show. It’s easier for investors to cater to the niche groups, which minimizes their downside risk; they figure that travelers will probably show up anyway, and they’ll be happy to swallow the politics of the niche group. So Angels in America gets funded, even though it’s a seven-hour borefest. Advertisement None of this matters to most Americans — very few Americans will visit Broadway in a given year. But it pops onto our cultural radar when the Tonys hit our televisions. Then, suddenly, this niche product comes into our living rooms, and we’re stunned by the bubble it represents. None of this suggests a conspiracy on Broadway. But it does show that cultural fragmentation has consequences — and markets can exacerbate those fragmentations. That’s not a case against markets. It’s a case in favor of supposedly broad-minded, risk-taking artists actually taking risks by moving out of their comfort zones and engaging audiences that won’t give them standing ovations merely for shouting epithets at a Republican president (the only Republican president in history to endorse same-sex marriage, by the way). Or we can all keep doubling down on our bases and stop talking to one another. Our cultural commonalities shrink alongside our political commonalities. It will take an act of tremendous willpower and forward thinking to break out of that cycle. Advertisement NOW WATCH: “From Stage Of The Tony Awards, Robert De Niro Says ‘F— Trump'”<doc-sep>
Trump and Eminem once friendly, not anymore Trump and hip-hop used to be friendly NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 13: (L to R) President-elect Donald Trump and Kanye West stand together in the lobby at Trump Tower, December 13, 2016 in New York City. President-elect Donald Trump and his transition team are in the process of filling cabinet and other high level positions for the new administration. Chance the Rapper rejects Trump 'thank you' Originally from Chicago's South Side, Chance the Rapper's latest album, "Acid Rap," earned him Spin Magazine's "rapper of the year" distinction for 2013. Why would a question about President Trump prompt Cher to eat cow's tongue? CNN's Jeanne Moos reports. Cher Eats Tongue Cher eats COW tongue rather than answer a question about Donald Trump. Cher and Trump have a history of bad blood. She's always tweeting horrible things about him. Then James Corden put her on the spot in a segment of his show called Spill Your Guts or Fill Your Guts in which a celeb has to choose between answering a delicate question or eating some god awful dish like cow tongue. When Corden asked Cher to name one good thing about trump, Cher bit the bullet, or rather the tongue. This happened on Corden's show which is coming from Britain this week. Will also include fab Carpool Karaoke of Corden and Paul McCartney singing "Baby You Can Drive My Car." US President Donald Trump waves as boards Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on March 29, 2018, on his way to Cleveland. (NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images) CANNES, FRANCE - MAY 15: Spike Lee attends the photocall for "BlacKkKlansman" during the 71st annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 15, 2018 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images) Trump: I like Swift's music about 25% less now (CNN) — A day after he took a swipe at President Donald Trump, Robert De Niro has apologized – not to the commander-in-chief but for him. The actor was in Toronto Monday for the groundbreaking of the Canadian Nobu restaurant, which he was launching alongside celebrity chef Nobu Matsuhisa. During his remarks, De Niro said, “I just want to make a note of apology for the idiotic behavior of my president. “It’s a disgrace. And I apologize to [Canadian Prime Minister] Justin Trudeau and the other people at the G7. It’s disgusting.” Trump was criticized for what some viewed as an attack on Canada, one of America’s strongest allies, after the summit. “PM Justin Trudeau of Canada acted so meek and mild during our @G7 meetings only to give a news conference after I left saying that, ‘US Tariffs were kind of insulting’ and he ‘will not be pushed around,” Trump tweeted after the summit. “Very dishonest & weak. Our Tariffs are in response to his of 270% on dairy!” The absolute chaos of Donald Trump’s G7 meeting (and what it means moving forward) On Sunday, De Niro was bleeped at the Tony Awards when he dropped some f-bombs about President Donald Trump while introducing a performance by Bruce Springsteen. Robert De Niro’s Trump comments at Tony Awards go viral “First, I wanna say, ‘f**k Trump,’” De Niro said. “It’s no longer ‘Down with Trump,’ it’s ‘f**k Trump.’” The crowd gathered at New York’s Radio City Music Hall cheered his remarks. In Toronto, the audience laughed and clapped.