Box office weekend… TV show/series news… ‘The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show’ returns… ‘Vanderpump Rules’ cheating scandal… and Chris Rock’s LIVE Netflix special

“Creed 3” was expected to earn somewhere between $36M-$40M during its opening weekend. It did WAY better than that, taking in $58.7M in the US and another $41M overseas. That’s bumping right up against $100M for a movie that had a $75M budget. Coming in second was “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantamania” with $12.4M, followed by “Cocaine Bear” with $11M. The Japanese comic book movie “Demon Slayer” was fourth with $10M, and “Jesus Revolution” rounded out the top five with $8.6M.

#CreedIII has already crossed the $100 million USD global box office mark during its premiere weekend. A successful directorial debut for #MichaelBJordan 🎉 pic.twitter.com/0D7RptV3rI

— HYPEBEAST (@HYPEBEAST) March 6, 2023

In TV news, Rachael Ray’s show is coming to an end after she wraps up her current 17th season. The show has been nominated for over 30 Emmys and won the Daytime Emmy for Best Talk Show in 2008, 2009 and 2019. But ratings have been in a steady decline over the past few years, so the cancellation came as no surprise to Rachael. She’s now launched her own production company and says she’s “truly excited to be able to introduce and develop new and upcoming epicurean talent on all platforms.” But Blake Shelton’s “Barmageddon” did well enough that USA Network has announced it’s coming back for Season 2. In Season 1, Blake and Carson Daly would heckle celebrities like Gwen Stefani, Sheryl Crow, Trace Adkins and Kane Brown while they played games like Air Cannon Cornhole, Keg Curling, and Drunken Axe Hole.

‘Rachael Ray’ Talk Show to End After 17 Seasons https://t.co/bDFIg74ipK

— Variety (@Variety) March 4, 2023

Season 2 here we come!!!!! @BarmageddonUSA @USANetwork #Barmageddon pic.twitter.com/WRO4SVtKru

— Blake Shelton (@blakeshelton) March 1, 2023

In November 2019, the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show was canceled after controversy over the company’s former CEO with Jeffrey Epstein, as well as the lack of body diversity and inclusion. Since then, Victoria’s Secret has been blasted for body-shaming, sexism, misogyny, bullying, and harassment in podcasts and documentaries. There was even a pop song written about it. Since then, Victoria’s Secret has been using all shapes and sizes in their ad campaigns, and now, after a four year break, the CFO of Victoria’s Secret said they’re bringing back the fashion show later this year, and it will reflect who the company is today. Lizzo tweeted, “This is a win for inclusivity for inclusivity’s sake. But if brands start doing this only because they’ve received backlash then what happens when the ‘trends’ change again? Do the CEOs of these companies value true inclusivity? Or do they just value money?”

Ready or not, executives say a reboot is in the works. https://t.co/fTuypE7UEY

— Fashionista.com (@Fashionista_com) March 3, 2023

This scandal is so juicy that even though they’d already wrapped filming the next “Vanderpump Rules,” they fired up the cameras again. On Friday, the poop hit the fan. After 9 years together, Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix broke up after she found out he’d been cheating on her with their co-star Raquel Leviss. Reportedly, Ariana was scrolling through Tom’s cell phone when she came across six months’ worth of X-rated texts and a video of Tom and Raquel she will never be able to unsee. And all this season, the focus has been on another scandal involving Raquel, who made out with Tom Schwartz after he and Katie Maloney broke up. And on top of all this, the two Toms are best friends. Tom went on Instagram yesterday to confess and apologize. He’s asking all his followers to please direct all their anger towards him and not his friends, family, or business.

“Vanderpump Rules” stars Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix are no more, a revelation that is sure to rock the show’s cast, as he allegedly cheated with costar Raquel Leviss. https://t.co/N9PofNnwwW

— TMZ (@TMZ) March 3, 2023

Chris Rock had the honor of doing the first-ever live comedy special on Netflix Saturday night, and Chris did not take Will Smith’s advice to keep his wife’s name out of his mouth. He made us wait till the end, but Chris finally addressed the infamous slap during last year’s Oscars. He joked about being hit by “Suge Smith” and said, “It still hurts. I got ‘Summertime’ ringing in my ears!” Chris also said Will was demonstrating “selective outrage” — which was the title of Chris’ Netflix special. Chris said, “Everybody that really knows knows I had nothing to do with that s***—. I didn’t have any ‘entanglements.’” That’s the word Jada used when she referred to the affair she had with her son’s friend. Chris poked fun at Will for agreeing to go on Jada’s “Red Table Talk,” saying, “Everybody in this industry has been cheated on. None of us have ever been interviewed by the person that cheated on us on television.” Chris said Jada hurt Will way more than Will hurt him. So how did this beef with Jada get started in the first place? It turns out it was way before the “GI Jane” joke about her buzz cut. Way back in 2016, Chris said that Jada wanted him to quit as host of the Oscars because Will didn’t get nominated for “Concussion.” Not only did he not quit, he made some jokes about it, which made Jada madder. Chris said, “That’s how it is. She started it, I finished it…Nobody was picking on her.” Chris also said he didn’t hit Will back because his parents raised him right, teaching him, “Don’t fight in front of white people.”

Chris Rock eviscerates Will Smith for ten minutes in live Netflix stand-up special: “We’ve all been cheated on — everybody in here has been cheated on — none of us have been interviewed by the person that cheated on us on television.” https://t.co/FntJPhchAK #SelectiveOutrage

— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) March 5, 2023

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