Disney’s ‘Encanto’ leads box office… The “royal racist”… Jussie Smollett is going on trial… Matthew McConaughey for governor… and Lindsay Lohan has announced her engagement

Listen to “Showbiz – Nov 29, 2021” on Spreaker.

Box office totals over the stretched out Thanksgiving weekend were down 46% from the pre-pandemic year of 2019. But the box office champ was Disney’s “Encanto,” which took in a little over $40M between Wednesday and Sunday. “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” fell to second in its second week of release with $35.2M, but movie experts say this movie could actually jump back up to first place because of all the positive word-of-mouth. Third place went to “House of Gucci” with $21.8M.

Disney’s ‘Encanto’ Leads Muted Thanksgiving Box Office, ‘House of Gucci’ Lands Impressive Debut https://t.co/50LMJrbjly— Variety (@Variety) November 28, 2021

Remember when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle sat down with Oprah to talk about how they basically had no choice but to leave the Royal Family and move to America? One of the biggest revelations was that someone in the Royal Family had expressed “concerns” over the skin tone of Harry and Meghan’s future children, but they refused to say who it was. In the new book “Brothers and Wives: Inside the Private Lives of William, Kate, Harry and Meghan,” author Christopher Andersen claims it was Harry’s father, Prince Charles. A source told the author that on the same day Harry and Meghan announced their engagement, Prince Charles asked his wife Camilla, “I wonder what the children will look like?” Camila reportedly was taken aback and answered, “Well, absolutely gorgeous, I’m certain.” The source said Charles then lowered his voice and asked, “I mean, what do you think their children’s complexion might be?” A spokesperson for Prince Charles has denied the story.

Prince Charles ‘calls lawyers’ over claims he asked about Archie’s skin colourhttps://t.co/EgLRmn4X0Q pic.twitter.com/Q3W8ENZxJR— The Mirror (@DailyMirror) November 28, 2021

Almost 3 years later, former “Empire” star Jussie Smollett is finally going on trial for disorderly conduct for staging a racially-motivated attack by a couple of men wearing MAGA hats. Jussie was indicted on 16 counts of providing false information to police, but DA Kim Foxx dismissed all the charges. Then a special prosecutor came in and brought six new charges of disorderly conduct, which is what will finally go to trial today. If he’s convicted on any of the six counts, Jussie could face from 1-3 years in prison. But because he has no criminal past, he could also get probation. The trial is expected to last at least a week. Unfortunately for us nosy people, cameras have been banned from the courtroom.

Jussie Smollett is going on trial this week, accused of lying to police when he reported he was the victim of a racist, homophobic attack downtown Chicago nearly three years ago. https://t.co/65TOuRSTG1— ABC News (@ABC) November 28, 2021

Even though he was leading in the polls, Matthew McConaughey has decided not to run for governor of Texas. In his announcement on Instagram, Matthew said the hope of a political career was both “humbling and inspiring.” And as far as politicians go, Matthew said, “The good ones can help us to where we need to go — oh yeah — but let’s be clear: They can’t do anything for us unless we choose to do for ourselves.” He added, “To the leaders and servants out there, and the leaders and servants in each one of us, cheers to you. Here’s to the freedom to be you. The freedom to be me. And to our responsibility to be us.” And of course he closed with that famous line from “Dazed and Confused.” No…not “All right, all right, all right…” He said, “Just keep livin’.”

“It’s a humbling and inspiring path to ponder. It is also a path that I’m choosing not to take at this moment.” Actor Matthew McConaughey said he won’t run for governor in his home state of Texas. https://t.co/FbWMIJkhpa— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) November 29, 2021

Surprise! Lindsay Lohan is engaged!! She posted a picture snuggled up to her new fiancé Bader Shammas, captioning it, “My love. My life. My family. My future.” Lindsay has been quietly dating Bader for two years. They met in Dubai, which is where Lindsay has lived for the past few years. According to his LinkedIn profile, Bader is an assistant vice president at Credit Suisse, but he attended college in Florida.