Names and faces
Ellen DeGeneres, known for keeping her comedy on the nice side, lets her inner meanie out for Ellen’s Game of Games. NBC’s new prime-time game show, which begins its regular run Tuesday after a December sneak peek, subjects its contestants to measured torments that delight host and executive producer DeGeneres. “It’s hilarious to see the panic and fear on their faces if they get the answer wrong,” she said, knowing the possible consequences include being drenched with something gooey or launched airborne or dropped through the stage floor. “But no one can get hurt. It’s only public humiliation,” she said, drolly. “It builds character, and to win $100,000 it’s what we must go through.” That’s the top prize for those who conquer a variety of games, including some that have been played on DeGeneres’ syndicated daytime talk show — “but on steroids, bigger, higher and more dangerous,” she said — and newly devised ones. Challenges on the hourlong show include Blindfolded Musical Chairs, Dizzy Dash and Scary Go Round. The host’s quick patter fills in the gaps, with an assist from “Ellen” DJ and sidekick Stephen “tWitch” Boss. Game of Games is part of a resurgence of popularity for game shows, a trend that makes sense to DeGeneres. “When you have times that are difficult or stressful in the world … we need a place to look at something that’s mindless but entertaining,” she said.
Singer Joy Villa says she wants an apology from Corey Lewandowski for hitting her twice on her buttocks during a Washington gathering last fall. Villa is a Trump supporter and potential congressional candidate who wore a dress displaying Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan to the Grammys. Lewandowski was Trump’s campaign manager until being fired in June 2016. He hasn’t commented about Villa’s complaint. In an interview earlier this week, Villa said she was initially reluctant to come forward because she was worried about any backlash. But she said she called Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department on Christmas Eve after a friend who witnessed the incident spoke about it publicly, and other friends urged her to come forward. “I didn’t know him at all,” Villa said about Lewandowski. “I only knew him by reputation. He broke my trust.” At the same time, Villa is defending herself against a video that shows her slapping another man’s buttocks at a separate event. On Friday, Villa told ABC’s Good Morning America that she has apologized to the man whom she hit: “When he said, ‘Take it easy,’ I stopped.” She said, “We have to say ‘I’m sorry.’”