Franklin finally is getting an origin story… Yellowstone negotiations… Usher for Kim Kardashian’s SKIMS… Taylor Swift threatens to sue… and Lifetime documentary ‘Where is Wendy Williams?’

Justice for Franklin!! It is very fitting that during Black History Month that Apple TV+ is giving us the origin story of Franklin — the first black character introduced in the Peanuts comic strip. Franklin made his debut on July 31, 1968. According to Wikipedia, Franklin “goes to school with Peppermint Patty and Marcie. In his first appearance, he met Charlie Brown when they were both at the beach. Franklin’s father was a soldier fighting in Vietnam, to which Charlie Brown replied ‘My dad’s a barber… he was in a war too, but I don’t know which one.’” Later Franklin met Charlie Brown’s friends, and found some of them to be quite odd, especially Linus. He would pop up from time to time, quoting the Old Testament and sharing stories about his grandfather with Charlie Brown. But there’s WAY more to Franklin’s story. A few days after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Los Angeles school teacher Harriet Glickman wrote a letter to Charles Schultz urging him to include a Black character in his comic strip, which ultimately led to the creation of Franklin. You can learn the entire story when Snoopy Presents: Welcome Home, Franklin begins streaming on Apple TV+ on Feb. 16.

Welcome to the crew, Franklin.

Snoopy Presents: Welcome Home, Franklin premieres February 16. pic.twitter.com/aB8zflAjkO

— Apple TV (@AppleTV) February 2, 2024

In Yellowstone news, on his behalf, one of Kevin Costner’s reps reportedly is asking show creator Taylor Sheridan to allow Kevin to come back and finish his final arc with the series. However, Taylor is said to be very happy with the way he wrote the final episodes of Season 5, without the character of John Dutton. They’ll start filming the second part of Season 5 later this spring and summer, so they don’t have long to figure this out before it’s too late. Meantime, according to the Puck news website, Cole Hauser (Rip Wheeler), Kelly Reilly (Beth Dutton) and Luke Grimes (Kayce Dutton) are holding out for more money. Reportedly, Kelly initially wanted to be bumped up to $1.5M per episode, but she’s now asking for $1.2M. Cole wants $1.25M, but we can’t find how much Luke wants. Paramount has countered with $850K per episode, with an increase to $950K per episode in season 2 of the spinoff, and it doesn’t look like they’re budging.

There's never any shortage of drama at the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch — and that's seemingly the case offscreen as well. https://t.co/aBoLeNgGYq

— Us Weekly (@usweekly) February 7, 2024

Usher used Kim Kardashian to announce him as the Super Bowl Halftime performer, and now Kim is using Usher to sell some underwear. Usher is the newest face — and body — for the SKIMS Mens collection, modeling the Stretch and Cotton collection of underwear. As part of this new drop featuring Usher, a limited edition digital version of his album Coming Home will be dropping Friday at midnight ET. And then the undies modeled by Usher will be available online starting Monday after the Super Bowl.

SKIMS special release of @Usher’s new album COMING HOME with alternative album cover & exclusive bonus track “Naked” is dropping February 9th & available for 1 week only at https://t.co/qc7FuvpJxo. Join the waitlist now. https://t.co/28uObtkJVn pic.twitter.com/U4brppCEDW

— Kim Kardashian (@KimKardashian) February 6, 2024

Taylor Swift sent a cease-and-desist to a University of Central Florida student who tracks her private jet activity. If this Jack Sweeney person doesn’t stop, they will seek further legal action. While Taylor’s team says this is “stalking and harassing behavior,” Jack says he’s not doing anything wrong. In a letter to the AP, Jack wrote, “One should reasonably expect that their jet will be tracked, whether or not I’m the one doing it, as it is public information after all.”

Taylor Swift threatens to sue student who tracks her private jethttps://t.co/rgnDRO3IAl pic.twitter.com/8M7w0RXQ2D

— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) February 7, 2024

The trailer for the Lifetime documentary Where Is Wendy Williams? is out now, and it is SAAAAAD. Not only do we see how badly Wendy’s health has declined, we see her struggle with alcohol. Wendy also claims to be broke because of her court-appointed guardianship. The documentary also features Wendy’s family, including her son Kevin Hunter Jr. and her sister Wanda, who are fighting to get Wendy freed from the conservatorship. Based on the trailer, Wendy’s family doesn’t even know where she is! Lifetime’s Where Is Wendy Williams? will premiere in two parts, Feb. 24 and 25.

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