The Spice: 1/21-1/27

Michael Jackson Estate Not Happy About Sundance Documentary Leaving Neverland

The Michael Jackson documentary that accuses the late singer of sexually abusing young children debuted at the Sundance Film Festival last week. Just hours after the film’s premiere, Jackson’s estate denounced it, saying, “Leaving Neverland isn’t a documentary, it is the kind of tabloid character assassination Michael Jackson endured in life, and now in death… Conveniently left out of Leaving Neverland was the fact that when Robson was denied a role in a Michael Jackson themed Cirque du Soleil production, his assault allegations suddenly emerged…”

The individual mentioned in the statement, Wade Robson, appears in the documentary and claims to have been abused by the Thriller singer. You can read the full statement here.

Park City’s Egyptian Theatre, where the film played during Sundance, was heavily surrounded by the police and several protesters. Despite Jackson fans’ attacks, Leaving Neverland and director Dan Reed received a standing ovation.

Kim Kardashian’s Ex Reveals Graphic Details About Sex with Reality TV Star in New Song… He Also Raps About Kylie

The Game, rapper and Kim Kardashian West’s ex-boyfriend, debuted a new track at a listening party on Thursday. It includes very graphic details about their sex life, which I have no interest in posting in this article. You can read the controversial lyrics here.

According to several sources, The Game was encouraged to drop any mention of Kardashian West to avoid any backlash from the public and, in particular, Kanye West.

If that wasn’t weird enough, a leaked Twitter video of The Game’s recording session reveals that the same song mentions Kylie Jenner. The rapper refers to the makeup mogul, saying, “Her sister made a billion on makeup / I used to make her frosted flakes when she wakes up.”

(Speaking of frosted flakes, remember when Jenner revealed that she never ate cereal with milk until September 2018? She called the combination of the two “life changing.” Just something to think about... )

BuzzFeed Layoffs Have Begun

On Wednesday, BuzzFeed confirmed that it planned to lay off 15% of its workforce, around 200 staffers.

This business decision is confusing, especially because BuzzFeed has taken several steps to establish itself as a digital outlet that is more than just quizzes and listicles. Recently, BuzzFeed has aggressively expanded its investigative content. This relatively new venture made headlines when it released the so-called “Russian dossier” last year. Just this month, Buzzfeed released a report that shows President Donald Trump directed his former attorney, Michael Cohen, to lie to Congress.

Along with early staffers, John R. Stanton, senior national correspondent and former Washington bureau chief, and national reporters Tyler Kingkade and Hannah Allam, have confirmed that they are leaving the company.

This marks the third time BuzzFeed has drastically reduced its staff in 14 months, and it caught the attention of our president. Yesterday, President Trump attacked “one-sided Fake Media coverage,” specifically Buzzfeed. He tweeted, “Ax falls quickly at BuzzFeed and Huffpost!”

A Resident Evil TV Series in the Works at Netflix

Deadline reported that Netflix is searching for a showrunner to start drafting the screenplay for a new version of the popular Resident Evil film franchise. The television series aims to “explore the dark inner workings of the Umbrella Corporation and the new world order caused by the outbreak of the T-virus.”

As of now, the project is in its early stages; there is no cast to announce or premiere date scheduled yet.

Bohemian Rhapsody: Nominee No More

Bohemian Rhapsody is no longer a best original film nominee at this year’s GLAAD Media Awards. It was pulled from the awards show due to new accusations of sexual assault and misconduct about director Bryan Singer. He has since denied these allegations, and called the Atlantic story “a homophobic smear piece.”

GLAAD released a statement regarding its decision, saying, “In light of the latest allegations against Bryan Singer, GLAAD has made the difficult decision to remove Bohemian Rhapsody from contention for a GLAAD Media Award in the Outstanding Film - Wide Release category this year. This week’s story in The Atlantic documenting unspeakable harms endured by young men and teenage boys brought to light a reality that cannot be ignored or even tacitly rewarded.”

Robert Redford Says “Bye Bye” to Sundance Film Festival, Taking More of a Backseat Role

On Thursday, founder of the Sundance Film Festival and hottie, Robert Redford, announced his retirement as the public face for the Utah film festival.

“Having done this for God, 34 years now, since the festival started… I think we are at a point where I can move on to a different place,” Redford said onstage at Park City’s Egyptian Theatre.

This is not the only job Redford has decided to leave. Last year, Redford said that Fox Searchlight’s The Old Man & The Gun would be his final film role.

Chris Brown Investigated for Rape in Paris and Released “This Bitch Lyin’” T-Shirts

On Monday, singer Chris Brown and two others were arrested in Paris for allegedly attacking a 24-year-old Algerian student and occasional model in Brown’s suite in the Mandarin Oriental hotel on January 16.

On Thursday, Brown filed a defamation lawsuit against the woman. The three individuals are currently on unconditional release and have not been charged, but their legal status in France can be changed at any time.

Shortly after his release, Brown launched T-shirts through his clothing line, Black Pyramid, that include the now controversial statement Brown had made earlier last week, “That bitch lyin’!” Some of them include images of the Eiffel Tower and of France.

The singer has recently returned to the US from Paris.

Lady Gaga Used Charles Manson Follower’s Music in Her Documentary, Gaga: Five Foot Two

Although not considered a part of the Manson “family,” Bobby Beausoleil was an associate of the famous murderer and was convicted of first-degree murder in 1970. He has been in prison for almost 49 years and is close to getting out, thanks to Lady Gaga.

Beausoleil’s parole hearing transcripts reveal that he was asked several questions about his music and art as they relate to Manson. Beausoleil made it clear that there is no relation; his art stands alone.

In order to prove his point, Beausoleil presented to the parole board Gaga’s documentary, saying, “The Lady Gaga documentary used a portion of [my song, “Lucifer Rising”]... and it has been used in other films… It is respected on its own merits as art… I think it is important to try to see it as something that is not representative of something that is related to Manson.”

This pitch eventually worked, as the panel found him to be suitable for parole.