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Berry pulls out of transgender role
Halle Berry has pulled out of a role in an upcoming film in which she’d play a transgender character following backlash online.
In an Instagram Live interview Friday, the actress said she had been preparing for the role but had not been officially cast.
“(It’s) a character where the woman is a trans character, so she’s a woman that transitioned into a man. She’s a character in a project I love that I might be doing,” Berry had said.
She added that she wanted to take a “deep dive” into “that world,” likely referring to the trans community.
However, Berry faced backlash online after misgendering the character multiple times during the interview.
On Monday night, she issued an apology and pulled out of the role, saying “the transgender community should undeniably have the opportunity to tell their own stories.”
Meighan pleads guilty to assault: Former Kasabian frontman Tom Meighan was sentenced to 200 hours of unpaid work after pleading guilty Tuesday at Leicester Magistrates’ Court to assaulting his former fiancee.
The case came a day after Meighan quit the band, releasing a statement saying he was dealing with “personal issues.”
Closed-circuit television footage of the attack was played in court as Meighan, 39, wiped his eyes and held his head in his hands. His lawyer told the court he “offers his sincere apologies to the people he has let down and he has sought to address his offending behavior.”
Scorsese co-directing documentary: Martin Scorsese has come on board to co-direct and executive produce a documentary profiling David Johansen, the frontman of the New York Dolls.
The film will follow Johansen’s arrival in New York’s East Village in the late 1960s and the start of his musical career in the 1970s as lead singer for the punk/glam pioneers the New York Dolls, along with his role in the swing revival as Buster Poindexter in the 1980s and in the blues as part of the Harry Smiths in the 1990s.
“I’ve known David Johansen for decades, and his music has been a touchstone ever since I listened to the Dolls when I was making ‘Mean Streets,’ ” said Scorsese. “Then and now, David’s music captures the energy and excitement of New York City.”
Vaughn, Hauser join ‘Queenpins’: Vince Vaughn and Paul Walter Hauser have been cast alongside Kristen Bell and Leslie Jones in the caper comedy “Queenpins.”
“Queenpins” is written and will be directed by husband-wife team Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly from their own script. It’s inspired by the true story of the largest counterfeit coupon caper in the history of the U.S.
Bell and Jones will play suburban housewives stumbling upon a way to counterfeit coupons and make a little money, but they’re soon in over their heads as their scheme becomes more dangerous, growing into a $40 million criminal adventure.
July 8 birthdays: Singer Steve Lawrence is 85.
Actor Jeffrey Tambor is 76. Actress Kim Darby is 73. Actress Anjelica Huston is 69. Actor Kevin Bacon is
62. Singer Toby Keith is 59. Actor Rocky Carroll is 57. Actor Michael Weatherly is 52. Singer Beck is 50. Actor Milo Ventimiglia is 43. Actor Lance Gross is 39. Actor Jaden Smith is 22.