Oscars drama… Amy Winehouse holographic live tour… Chris Cornell’s documentary… Tristan Thompson update… and The case against Jussie Smollett

Last year’s Oscars dragged on FOREVER. Actually, it was almost four hours but it felt like forever. On top of that, the ratings are sinking lower and lower. The Academy did some brain-storming on how to get the show down to a solid three hours and get us interested again, but everything they’ve suggested has been slammed. First, they wanted to add a Popular Movie category, but people said that was just a way to get “Black Panther” nominated without putting it up for Best Picture so they scrapped that. Then they hired Kevin Hart who caused so much controversy with his old homophobic tweets that he dropped out and now they’re going host-free. Then they decided they were only going to have two of the Best Original Songs performed — Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper would do “Shallow” from “A Star is Born” and Kendrick Lamar and SZA would perform “All the Stars” from “Back Panther” — because they were the only ones that got any radio airplay. There was a huge uproar over that, so the Academy backpedaled and said everybody could sing, but it was only going to be for 90 seconds. Well, guess what…Now Kendrick and SZA can’t perform because of “logistics and timing.” And then the Academy said to keep things short, they’d give out the Oscars for cinematography, film editing, makeup and hairstyling, and live-action short during the commercial breaks, playing snippets of acceptance speeches later during the broadcast with the full speeches online. THAT went over like a lead balloon, so now expect a lot of hoopla when those categories are announced. Bets on whether they’ll keep it to three hours? It all happens on ABC Sunday night.

Oscars producers say the show is in ‘good shape’ for Sunday https://t.co/1boBVzI3Jd pic.twitter.com/AqKFYthe2e

— Page Six (@PageSix) February 22, 2019

It’s hard to believe Amy Winehouse died in 2011 at the height of her popularity. A lot of her fans never got to see her on tour, but BASE Hologram wanted to fix that. The “Amy Winehouse Back in Black” holographic live tour was set to launch later this year, but now the show has been postponed due to “some unique challenges and sensitivities.” Amy’s family was fully on board with this. In fact, proceeds from the tour will go toward the Amy Winehouse Foundation, which is dedicated to addiction awareness and prevention among young people. When this tour eventually gets going, it will feature Amy’s hologram performing in front of a live band with singers and “theatrical stagecraft.”

Amy Winehouse Hologram Live Tour Set for Late 2019 https://t.co/TjhGdaqR6S

— Variety (@Variety) October 12, 2018

Variety reports that Brad Pitt, his producing partner Peter Berg, and Chris Cornell’s widow Vicky are working on a documentary about the late singer. Peter will also direct. (He’s the guy behind that NFL 100 commercial that aired during the Super Bowl and starred in one of my favorite movies nobody’s ever seen, “Late for Dinner.”) Brad and Chris became friends in the 90s when Chris’ song “Outshined” was featured in Brad’s movie “True Romance.” On May 18, 2017, Chris committed suicide after performing a show with Soundgarden in Detroit. Just last month, Brad was there to support Chris’ kids at a tribute concert for their father. The show featured performances from Soundgarden and other artists like Adam Levine, Miley Cyrus, and the Foo Fighters.

A new documentary chronicling the life of Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell is in the works. It will be produced by Cornell’s widow Vicky and Brad Pitt https://t.co/AlGahgVTl7 pic.twitter.com/Nipet8gqFD

— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) February 14, 2019

She waited for a minute, but Khloe Kardashian has unfollowed Jordyn Woods on Instagram. At last check, Khloe is still following Tristan Thompson. However, Kim and Kourtney have unfollowed both of them and Kendall has stopped following Tristan. Kylie is just waiting….and waiting….Khloe reportedly didn’t want to believe that Jordyn made out with Tristan and personally called her. Jordyn fessed up and they haven’t spoken since. Jordyn reportedly has been trying to call Khloe and Kylie to apologize, but they won’t take her calls. Jordyn pulled herself together for an event to launch her new false eyelash line, Eylure.

Jordyn Woods Has Been Trying to Apologize to Khloé Kardashian: 'She's Completely Remorseful' https://t.co/sroT3f4rQ4

— People (@people) February 21, 2019

Chicago police laid out their case against Jussie Smollett yesterday. Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson was visibly angry, saying he took it personally when Jussie allegedly lied about being the victim of a hate crime. He said Jussie’s motivation was to get a pay raise on “Empire” and that he was offended that another black man would exploit racial divisions for his own gain and smear the reputation of a city he’s worked his entire career to protect. Last night Jussie’s brother Jake shared a statement from his attorneys blasting the Chicago police. “Today we witnessed an organized law enforcement spectacle that has no place in the American legal system. The presumption of innocence, a bedrock in the search for justice, was trampled upon at the expense of Mr. Smollett and notably, on the eve of a Mayoral election. Mr. Smollett is a young man of impeccable character and integrity, who fiercely and solemnly maintains his innocence and feels betrayed by a system that apparently wants to skip due process and proceed directly to sentencing.” After posting bail, Jussie went straight to the “Empire” set because he had scenes to film. He reportedly kept them waiting about 30 minutes before he came out to apologize. He reportedly said, “I’m sorry I’ve put you all through this and not answered any calls. I wanted to say I’m sorry and, you know me, I would never do this to any of you, you are my family. I swear to God, I did not do this.” His eyes were puffy from crying so producers sent him home to pull himself together. He came back later to film the rest of his scene.