Names and faces
Actor George Clooney says photographers who captured images of him and his wife, human-rights lawyer Amal Clooney, cradling their newborn twins will be “prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.” The pictures published by French magazine Voici were taken at the Clooneys’ residence in the Lombardy region of Italy. The magazine claims that the photos are the first to be made public of twins Ella and Alexander, who were born June 6. The actor says the photographers “scaled our fence, climbed our tree and illegally took pictures of our infants inside our home.” He adds that the photographers, the photo agency and the magazine will face prosecution because the safety of the couple’s children “demands it.”
Sarah Silverman told a TV critics’ meeting that she is out to show that Americans can bridge even their deepest differences and enjoy a laugh as well. On Thursday, Silverman said that’s the goal for her fall Hulu series, I Love You, America. Silverman said the show is intended to be the opposite of an echo chamber, instead allowing Silverman to connect with “un-like-minded people” across America. That’s regular people, not politicians, and no mockery will be involved, she said. The show is intended to be intelligent and moving but also silly, Silverman said. “Anything smart that’s in there will be served in a big, fat, bready sandwich of super, super dumb, because that’s how I like my comedy, and I don’t like to be told what to think,” she said. The edgy comic acknowledged she knows what it’s like to be a target, sharing a few of the crude and insulting tweets she’s received. She’s reached out to some of her detractors and found common ground, Silverman said. I Love You, America, which Silverman is producing with, among others, Oscar-winning screenwriter Adam McKay, is to debut Oct. 12. It will include studio and field pieces, a monologue and a regularly appearing focus group made up of people “from all walks of life,” Silverman said.
Forbes magazine has crowned Jerry Seinfeld as the king of the club when it comes to the highest-paid stand-up comedians. The magazine estimated that Seinfeld brought in $69 million over the past year partly due to his Netflix show Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. Seinfeld also has sizable income from syndication royalties on reruns of his NBC series, which ended nearly two decades ago. Netflix’s spending spree on stand-up comedy specials has had a big impact on the Forbes list. Chris Rock, Louis C.K., Dave Chappelle and Amy Schumer round out the top five. All of them have Netflix deals. Last year’s highest-paid comic, Kevin Hart, fell to sixth place with earnings of more than $32 million.