Tiger King’ star won’t talk about missing spouse
TAMPA, Fla. — A detective in Florida investigating the disappearance of Carole Baskin’s second husband said Thursday the “Tiger King” star had three times refused requests for interviews, and the probe was ongoing.
Cpl. Moises Garcia of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office in Tampa held a news conference to provide an update on the investigation into Don Lewis’ disappearance. The case was reopened following the March 2020 release of “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness,” a Netflix documentary series which became a huge hit during the pandemic.
Lewis was a Tampa millionaire who vanished in 1997, leaving Baskin with dozens of big cats at their animal sanctuary. The series launched rumors about how Lewis disappeared, including conjecture he was buried in a septic tank on the sanctuary’s property or living in Costa Rica.
The detective said he and his investigators had conducted 50 interviews and followed up on 200 leads.
Besides Baskin, a former handyman at the sanctuary, Kenny Farr, also “didn’t interview with us,” the detective said.
It’s unusual for a spouse or relative to refuse to cooperate when a family member goes missing, and Baskin is a person of interest, though others are too, Garcia said.
Jonah Hill to play Jerry Garcia in Scorsese film
Famed director Martin Scorsese is reportedly making a music biopic about legendary Bay Area rock act the Grateful Dead.
So, of course, Deadheads will want to know who’s going to play the group’s iconic vocalist-guitarist Jerry Garcia?
It’s going to be Jonah Hill, according to various reports.
Hill, who has starred in such films as “Superbad,” “Moneyball” and “Knocked Up,” seems to have confirmed the casting choice with an Instagram post, showing a headline that reads that he was chosen to play Garcia in the movie.
Hill previously worked with Scorsese on “The Wolf of Wall Street,” which landed the actor a best supporting actor Oscar nomination. It was his second nomination in that category. His first came for the Oakland A’s/Billy Beane biopic “Moneyball.”
ACM Awards get stadium upgrade in 2022
The Academy of Country Music awards show is getting a NFL-sized upgrade next year as it moves to a new home at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on March 7.
The ACM and Amazon Prime Video, along with production company MRC Live & Entertainment, announced on Thursday the new date and location for the 57th annual awards show, which will be exclusively live-streamed on the streaming service.
The ACM Awards show was held for several years in the MGM Grand Arena prior to the coronavirus pandemic. It moved to smaller venues in Nashville, Tennessee, this year and last year due to the pandemic. The new 65,000-seat Allegiant Stadium is home to the Las Vegas Raiders.
“We can’t thank the city of Las Vegas and Allegiant Stadium enough for welcoming us for the 57th Academy of Country Music Awards — a party so big only a stadium can hold it,” said Damon Whiteside, CEO of the Academy of Country Music, in a statement.
Duchess of Sussex gets goofy on DeGeneres’ show
NEW YORK — It was the Meghan hour Thursday on the talk show of her friend, Ellen DeGeneres, as the Duchess of Sussex helped welcome a special guest, hit the studio lot to prank vendors and said she’ll be cooking Thanksgiving dinner herself.
“I love to cook. We’ll be home and just sort of relax and settle in,” Meghan said of her second Thanksgiving in California with Prince Harry and, now, their two kids.
Meghan and DeGeneres, who met at a pet store more than a decade ago, chatted about Halloween (Archie was a dinosaur and baby Lili a skunk), and more serious issues like Meghan’s work to push for federal paid family leave. And she said Harry has taken nicely to the California lifestyle in Montecito, where Ellen is one of their neighbors.
“He loves it,” Meghan said. “We’re just happy.”
Meghan got Ellen-style goofy when she donned an earpiece so Ellen could tell her what to say and do as she perused the wares of three vendors on the studio lot.