&#8220;Notebook&#8221; actor John Cardoza told followers that he was robbed at gunpoint in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/new-york-city" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York City</a> on Sunday at a local Dunkin&#8217; Donuts shop.
The 30-year-old Broadway star was eating at the Harlem shop around 2 p.m. when he said a &#8220;middle-aged Black man&#8221; approached him asking for a dollar, police and sources told the <a href="https://www.nydailynews.com/2024/04/01/notebook-actor-john-cardoza-robbed-at-gunpoint-in-harlem-dunkin-donuts/">New York Daily News</a>.
Cardoza, who plays younger Noah in the play, wrote on Instagram that he &#8220;offered to buy him lunch because I didn&#8217;t have cash on me, and it escalated from there pretty quickly.&#8221;
Police said the man, who had his hand in his pocket, told the actor, &#8220;I have a gun.&#8221;
Cardoza wrote on social media that, &#8220;Ultimately, he didn&#8217;t make off with anything irreplaceable. It makes me sad to think people are as desperate as this – and it makes me sad to feel a need to alert anyone to this kind of activity.&#8221;
Police told the outlet that the man ended up taking off with the Broadway actor&#8217;s wallet containing personal items and $9 in cash. At the time of this publication, no arrest has been made.
Cardoza later sent a message to followers on Instagram that this is the &#8220;world we&#8217;re living in.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Actor John Cardoza robbed by panhandler in NYC shop, second Broadway star to become crime victim in a day <a href="https://t.co/UvThqzS4aF">https://t.co/UvThqzS4aF</a> <a href="https://t.co/5ntdX9KGqN">pic.twitter.com/5ntdX9KGqN</a>
— New York Post (@nypost) <a href="https://twitter.com/nypost/status/1774911013135040697?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2024</a></blockquote>
&#8220;And if you’re like me, you already are careful and don&#8217;t think it&#8217;s going to happen to you until it&#8217;s staring you in the face,&#8221; Cardoza explained. &#8220;So please be vigilant as the weather warms up and more people are out and about.&#8221;
The robbery happened on the same day &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/boardwalk-empire-actor-attacked-hit-with-a-rock-in-central-park" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Boardwalk Empire&#8221;</a> actor Michael Stuhlberg was attacked by a man with a rock while in Central Park, per the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/new-york-city">New York City</a> Police Department.
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Police responded around 7:45 p.m. ET Sunday to a &#8220;call of an assault in progress in the vicinity of 90th Street and East Drive&#8221; near the reservoir in Central Park, per <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/01/entertainment/michael-stuhlbarg-hit-rock-central-park/index.html">CNN</a>. That&#8217;s where they found the 55-year-old celeb who was &#8220;struck in the head by an unknown object.&#8221;
&#8220;A preliminary investigation determined that a 27-year-old male threw a rock, striking the victim in the back of the neck, causing an abrasion,&#8221; an NYPD spokesperson said in an email statement to the outlet on Monday.
&#8220;The victim chased the 27-year-old male to the front of 9 East 91st Street where uniformed officers took the 27-year-old male into custody without further incident. The victim refused medical attention at the scene,&#8221; the statement continued.
Suspected perpetrator Xavier Israel was arraigned on Monday on assault charges and released on bail. He has a court appearance scheduled for April 5.
Amanda Harding contributed to this piece.

Notebook Star

‘Notebook’ Actor Robbed At Gunpoint In NY

Assault

Broadway

Crime

Entertainment

New York

New York City

U.S.

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/broadway">Broadway</a> shows saw a 17% decrease in attendance for the 2022-23 season compared to 2018-19, the last full season before the COVID pandemic. A new survey found that a significant reason for this dip is “safety <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/crime">concerns</a>” from suburban residents who would otherwise travel to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/new-york-city">Manhattan</a> for a show. 
Broadway League reported last month that 12.3 million tickets were sold last season, much fewer than the previous non-pandemic year. New Yorkers make up 35% of show attendees, with city residents accounting for 22%. Visitors from other areas of the country make up 47.5% of the audience, per the report.
The Broadway League declined to comment on the numbers, as The New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/01/03/business/nyc-suburbanites-shun-broadway-over-safety-concerns-survey/">reported</a>. “We do not speculate generally about the numbers,” company spokesperson Scalla Jakso responded to the request.
The Situation Group conducted a survey of 1,700 Broadway ticket buyers nationwide, the outlet noted, and found that 50% of suburbanites haven’t returned to Broadway due to “concerns about safety.” Also, 41% of suburb dwellers said, “I travel to Manhattan for pleasure less often than I did in 2019.”
Half of the respondents noted that they weren’t attending because there were fewer Broadway shows they wanted to see.
Times Square Alliance president Tom Harris spoke with The Post about the trend, insisting that travelers shouldn’t worry about crime in the area.
“As witnessed by millions worldwide and the hundreds of thousands of revelers who enjoyed a safe and joyous New Year’s Eve this week, Times Square is one of the safest neighborhoods in all of NYC thanks to the hardworking men and women of the NYPD,” Harris told the outlet.
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Robberies, assaults, burglaries, and grand larceny are all up double-digit percentages from two years ago in New York City, although they are down from last year per NYPD data, as The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hundreds-of-nyc-bodega-workers-applying-for-gun-permits-amid-violent-thefts">reported</a>. Retail theft has increased dramatically, with shoplifting reports jumping 44% from 2021 to 2022.
The <a href="https://abc7ny.com/nypd-crime-shootings-murders/14259597/">latest report</a> from the NYPD found that murders and shootings were down by double-digit percentages in 2023 compared to the previous year. Chief of Crime Control Strategies Michael Lipetri said the NYPD is working hard to change perceptions of Manhattan as a high crime area.

Broadway Show Attendance Declines, Suburbanites Cite ‘Safety Concerns’ As Top Reason Why

Broadway Show Attendance Declines, Suburbanites Cite 'Safety Concerns' As Top Reason Why 

Manhattan

Safety

Singer and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/celebrities">actress</a> Idina Menzel said <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/race">racial differences</a> contributed to the demise of her decade-long marriage with Hollywood star Taye Diggs.
The 52-year-old “Frozen” star reflected on their 2013 <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/divorce">split</a> during a conversation with Jesse Tyler Ferguson for the &#8220;Dinner&#8217;s On Me&#8221; podcast, per <a href="https://www.etonline.com/idina-menzel-recalls-disappointment-in-the-community-over-her-interracial-relationship-with-taye">Entertainment Tonight</a>.
&#8220;It’s very complicated,&#8221; Menzel said, explaining how the pair was &#8220;always very supportive of each other always&#8230;. [but] the thing that came into play more &#8212; and he’s talked about it too &#8212; is the interracial aspect of it.&#8221; 
&#8220;[Taye] was on the cover of Essence, and Ebony, and being interviewed by all of these black journalists, and I think he had his own stuff to deal with, with that,&#8221; the Broadway actress went on. &#8220;And it seemed like there was some disappointment in the community with him, because he was married to a little white Jewish girl.&#8221;
&#8220;So, I took that on too. That was stuff we had to deal with,&#8221; the Tony Award-winning actress added. &#8220;It was less about being successful and more about that stuff.&#8221;
Menzel told Ferguson that while racial differences didn’t matter as much in the theater arena, the couple experienced a backlash in the broader entertainment world. &#8220;When you’re in the theater, it’s just not a [problem], like, we all love each other and sleep with each other and [are] best friends with whoever wants to be,&#8221; she said.
Menzel and Diggs met in 1995 while both were starring in &#8220;Rent&#8221; on Broadway. They married in 2003 and welcomed a son, Walker Diggs, in 2009. In December 2013, they separated and finalized their divorce the following year. Menzel still has plenty of compliments for her ex-husband, who she shares co-parenting duties with even now.
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&#8220;He was always so supportive, and probably relieved so he didn’t have to feel like he was overshadowing in some way or taking up too much space,&#8221; the actress said of how Diggs reacted to her getting the role of Elphaba in “Wicked.”
Diggs talked about co-parenting strategies during a conversation with ET in 2015. &#8220;As people can imagine, it gets rough at times just because we&#8217;re not in the same city, but we still love each other and what&#8217;s most important is we love our son,&#8221; the actor said at the time. &#8220;That stabilizes us. I&#8217;m thankful for him.&#8221;

Taye Diggs and Idina Menzel

Idina Menzel Said ‘Interracial Aspect’ Contributed To Divorce From Taye Diggs

Idina Menzel Said 'Interracial Aspect' Contributed To Divorce From Taye Diggs

Celebrities

divorce

Hollywood

Race

Actor James Beeks, known for his role in the musical “Jesus Christ Superstar,” has been acquitted of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/january-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">January 6</a> related charges after being accused of conspiring with the Oath Keepers to obstruct the certification of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/2020-election" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2020 presidential election</a>. 
U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/former-jesus-christ-superstar-actor-acquitted-jan-6-charges-rcna93956" target="_blank" rel="noopener">acquitted</a> Beeks of the obstruction charge and a civil disorder charge on Wednesday, making Beeks one of the few defendants to be found not guilty for charges stemming from the January 6 riot. 
“I feel great. I feel like a huge burden has been lifted off my shoulder, and I couldn’t be happier,” Beeks, 51, <a href="https://twitter.com/JordanOnRecord/status/1679216878114185217?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1679216878114185217%7Ctwgr%5Eb77009aa22b0b4d64e0c67ea138da341338720ff%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wusa9.com%2Farticle%2Fnews%2Fnational%2Fcapitol-riots%2Fjudge-acquits-jesus-christ-superstar-actor-on-all-counts-in-jan-6-case-james-beeks-judge-mehta-donovan-crowl-stewart-rhodes%2F65-22133fba-4e87-4d68-af02-5dfcaa4f7153" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in an interview after the decision, adding that he didn’t know much about the Oath Keepers prior to joining the group in the weeks leading up to the protest over the 2020 election. 
“I made a mistake. It has ruined my reputation, especially in the entertainment industry that I worked so hard to build. I was at the apex of my career,” he <a href="https://deadline.com/2023/07/james-beeks-broadway-actor-acquitted-january-6-capitol-riot-charges-1235436147/">said</a> in another statement after the ruling. 
Beeks played the character of Judas in “Jesus Christ Superstar&#8221; and has appeared in several other Broadway shows, including “Smokey Joe’s Cafe,” “Ragtime,” “Aida,” and “Kinky Boots.”
According to Mehta, Beeks was <a href="https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/national/capitol-riots/judge-acquits-jesus-christ-superstar-actor-on-all-counts-in-jan-6-case-james-beeks-judge-mehta-donovan-crowl-stewart-rhodes/65-22133fba-4e87-4d68-af02-5dfcaa4f7153">unaware</a> of any plan to storm the U.S. Capitol, so the conspiracy charge was irrelevant. 
“If he didn’t know what others intended, he couldn’t intend to do it,” lawyer Greg Hunter said. 
Mehta did find Beeks’ co-defendant, Donovan Crowl, guilty of two charges after the stipulated bench trial. Crowl was also a member of the Oath Keepers. 
A lawyer for Crowl said he was in Washington, D.C., on January 6 to exercise his First Amendment rights. 
“His conduct was no different than that of many Americans who’ve gone to Congress to peacefully protest and have not been charged with felonies,” lawyer Carmen Hernandez said. 
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In May, Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/oath-keepers-leader-gets-longest-january-6-sentence-to-date" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sentenced to 18 years in prison</a> for seditious conspiracy and other charges. Federal prosecutors accused Rhodes of “terrorism” while Rhodes said he was a political prisoner. 
“I’m a political prisoner, and like President Trump, my only crime is opposing those who are destroying our country,” he said before he was sentenced.
He also said that no member of the Oath Keepers took part in violence at the U.S. Capitol on January 6 and argued that defendants are being “grossly overcharged.”

TOPSHOT-US-POLITICS-ELECTION-TRUMP

Broadway Actor Acquitted After January 6-Related Conspiracy Charge

2020 Election

Capitol Riot

Courts

January 6

Politics

Actress Jodie Comer left fans disappointed just minutes into her performance of “Prima Facie” on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/broadway" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Broadway</a> Wednesday night as <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/new-york-city" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York City</a> remained covered in smoke from the Canadian wildfires.
Officials issued a code red “stay inside” warning for more than 100 million people in North America as smoke wafted across the continent due to hundreds of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/fire" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wildfires</a> raging in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/canada" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Canada</a>. New York was one of many American cities plagued by the smell of smoke. Social media was filled with images of major landmarks covered in an eerie orange haze.
Audience members said the play, which is about a lawyer who defends men accused of sexual assault and is later assaulted herself, had barely begun when the Tony Award-winning performer stopped, coughed, and said, “I can’t breathe this air” before being helped off the stage, per a report from <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12172925/Canada-smoke-Toxic-wiildfire-smog-chokes-America-second-day.html">The Daily Mail</a>.
One show attendee said that the show went on with Comer’s understudy, Dani Arlington. Many attendees left and received refunds but others stayed and gave Arlington a standing ovation at the end of her performance.
Brooklyn-based artist Kim Savarino posted about the situation on Instagram. “Had one of those NYC days,&#8221; she wrote in stories, as the publication noted. &#8220;Saw [Prima Facie] and about ten minutes in Jodie Comer had to stop the show because she couldn&#8217;t breathe in the smoky air.”
She continued: “They closed the house curtain and did some stage management wizardry so they could start again an hour later &#8211; @daniarlington ate the f**k out of this role, and it was truly thrilling to be with her for those 100 minute [sic] (all hail the swings and understudies that keep theater together).”
“Truly one of my favorite things about theater is the chaos and unpredictability and liveness of it all, and this was a genuine bright spot in the apocalyptic hellscape that is NYC today,” she concluded. 
Some attendees were disappointed that Comer left because they were hoping to see her perform.
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“We came to see Jodie Comer,” one attendee shared on Twitter. “She started show. Had to stop for air quality. Now want us to see understudy. What is refund policy? Exchange? We came and paid high price to see Jodie.”
The smoke in New York City and across a large portion of the northeast and midwest is expected to possibly remain through the weekend. Air quality remains hazardous and government officials are advising people to remain indoors and wear masks if they have to go outside, especially anyone with medical conditions that affect breathing, such as asthma.

Hazy NYC

Broadway Actress Walks Off Stage Amid Smoky Conditions In NYC: ‘I Can’t Breathe In This Air’

Broadway Actress Walks Off Stage Amid Smoky Conditions In NYC From Canada Wildfires

Canada

Severe Weather

Wildfires

World

Members of the Broadway musical “The Book of Mormon” celebrated former cast member Dylan Mulvaney’s association with Bud Light in a viral video in which they brandished cans of the beer.
Mulvaney played Elder White in the Broadway musical after graduating from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music in 2019.
“Hi Dylan!” an actor from the show said gleefully. “Just wanted to let you know that your friends from &#8216;The Book of Mormon&#8217; love and support you, are SO proud of you.”
Turning to Anheuser-Busch, the actor declaimed, “And for Anheuser-Busch, we are really proud of YOU for making an American Superstar on your can! Love Ya!”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
🤦‍♂️🤣 <a href="https://t.co/DKErJDYjnU">pic.twitter.com/DKErJDYjnU</a>
&mdash; Clown World ™ 🤡 (@ClownWorld_) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClownWorld_/status/1654282210575552514?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 5, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“I dedicated my life to becoming an actor, and I was at the submission of the industry as I tried to fit the mold and be masculine. I finally succeeded by landing a role in the musical Book of Mormon, but at the expense of finding my true gender identity,” Mulvaney wrote in <a href="https://www.elle.com/fashion/celebrity-style/a41298271/dylan-mulvaney-tiktok-fashion-tiffany-necklace/">Elle</a> in September 2022.
“As a kid, Breakfast at Tiffany’s was my favorite movie in the entire world,” Mulvaney continued. “At Catholic school, I would see all the girls get their Tiffany jewelry at Christmastime, and I’d be so jealous. But growing up as a boy, I couldn’t ask my parents for something from Tiffany’s; it didn’t make sense to fit the social norm. So this year, when I booked my first big hosting gig during Pride month, I told myself, I deserve that Tiffany necklace.”
&#8220;The Book of Mormon,&#8221; written by “South Park” creators Trey Parker, Matt Stone, and composer Robert Lopez, debuted on Broadway in 2011 and won nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical. It tells the story of two Mormon missionaries who travel to Africa, where they attempt to convert the natives. The musical includes songs such as “Hasa Diga Eebowai,” (translated as “F*** you, God”) and a scene where one of the Mormon missionaries has The Book of Mormon removed from his rectum.
The backlash against Bud Light was catalyzed when the company sent Mulvaney a can of beer with Mulvaney’s face on it as part of an ad partnership. Mulvaney posted a TikTok video with that can of Bud Light, celebrating 365 days of “being a woman.” A subsequent video showed Mulvaney in a bikini while sitting in a bathtub drinking a Bud Light beer.

Mulvaney

‘American Superstar On Your Can’: Cast Of ‘The Book Of Mormon’ Salutes Mulvaney, Anheuser-Busch

Cast Of The Book Of Mormon Salutes Mulvaney, Anheuser-Busch

Bud Light

Dylan Mulvaney

Theater

Hillary and Chelsea Clinton recently attended a Broadway show together, and someone reportedly left something near them in the aisle that sent an aromatic message.
The mother-daughter team was seated at the Shubert Theater to see the production of “Some Like It Hot,” the title of which may have been singularly appropriate considering the incident.
“Last week, when Hillary and Chelsea Clinton were in the audience, the lights came up for intermission and there were two human turds in the aisle just near the famous political duo,” a source told <a href="https://pagesix.com/2023/03/20/fan-poops-in-aisle-near-hillary-and-chelsea-clinton-at-show/?utm_source=NYPTwitter&amp;utm_campaign=SocialFlow&amp;utm_medium=SocialFlow" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Page Six</a> of The New York Post.
“The house crew dealt with it very appropriately and quickly, and Hillary and Chelsea and Chelsea remained in the theater for the second act,” the source added.
“There was an incident when Hillary Clinton and Chelsea attended,” another source echoed. “It was an elderly person and it’s rather sad, but yes, the house staff worked quickly to help resolve the situation and Act II started as scheduled.”
New York City does have a problem with excrement; a study conducted on Manhattan’s Upper East Side found high concentrations of bacteria from poop on indoor floors and carpets.
“We found numbers of bacteria that were absolutely astonishing,” chemistry professor Alessandra Leri, who co-authored the study, told <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/02/17/poop-bacteria-rampant-on-upper-east-side-streets-study-finds/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New York Post</a>, asking rhetorically, “The real question was, even after the feces are ostensibly cleaned up, do the bacteria persist on the sidewalks?”
&#8220;30,000 bacterial cells per 100 milliliter of water. The EPA has a benchmark that cities use to close beaches and that benchmark is 110 cells for 100 milliliters of water,&#8221; Leri told <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/study-of-new-york-city-sidewalks-finds-astonishing-levels-enterococci-e-coli-fecal-indicator-bacterium/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CBS News</a>.
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Trains transporting human waste from New York City have wound up in landfills across the South. The excrement has been transported in freight containers filled with “biosolids,” a dehydrated, treated version of the substance. In the past, New York City actually sent the excrement into the ocean, but in the past 30 years, they have sent it to landfills.
In April 2018, a train holding millions of pounds of excrement from New York got <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/04/poop-train-from-new-york-stuck-in-parrish-alabama.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stuck in Parrish, Alabama,</a> with a population of 982.
The train, stuck in a rail yard next to a softball field, forced people to stay indoors and little league games had to be rescheduled as a result.
<a href="https://apnews.com/28f5b0563b1441b6ac5d29f7dfd7f5f7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">AP reported</a> at the time that because New York had no room for its biowaste and could not dump it into the Atlantic Ocean because of federal law, it had transported its excrement to Alabama since 2017, as Alabama’s zoning laws were not as restrictive as New York’s. Thus the train was bound for the Big Sky Environmental landfill, roughly 20 miles east of Parrish.
The nearby town of West Jefferson, which was supposed to receive the excrement, and where trucks were supposed to transport the waste to the landfill, filed an injunction against the landfill in January to prevent the biowaste from being stored in the town’s rail yard, which terminated shipments coming to the town.
That meant shipments following the injunction wound up in Parrish. CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/03/us/parrish-waste-poop-train-alabama-trnd/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that Parrish, which is only two square miles, had to host 10 million pounds of poop.

Hillary and Chelsea Clinton

Start Spreading The Poop: Hillary, Chelsea Get Nasty Surprise Watching Broadway Show

Hillary, Chelsea Get Nasty Surprise Watching Broadway Show

Chelsea Clinton

Hillary Clinton

Broadway star <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/wicked-broadway-star-reveals-how-close-she-came-to-being-murdered-at-girl-scout-camp/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kristin Chenoweth</a> (&#8220;Wicked&#8221;) claims her hair extensions saved her life when she was involved in a 2012 accident on the set of the CBS show &#8220;The Good Wife.&#8221;
Chenoweth, 54, <a href="https://www.thewrap.com/kristin-chenoweth-regrets-not-suing-cbs-the-good-wife-accident/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recalled the accident</a> — and her regret that she opted not to pursue legal action against the network — during a Monday appearance with host Andy Cohen on &#8220;Watch What Happens Live.&#8221;
&#8220;I heard, like, a flagpole sound. I literally heard, &#8216;We&#8217;re losing the light.&#8217; I heard, &#8216;Action.&#8217; And I woke up at Bellevue [Hospital]. It hit me in the face and it threw me into a curb. Seven-inch skull fracture, hairline [fracture], and teeth and ribs,&#8221; <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/watch-kristin-chenoweth-backs-pro-life-message-of-new-movie-shares-personal-experience-told-from-my-gut/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chenoweth</a> explained.
According to CBS at the time, the accident had been caused when &#8220;a gust of wind blew a lighting silk out of place.&#8221; The lighting fixture was what crashed into Chenoweth, causing her injuries. &#8220;All of us at the studio and the show are thinking about Kristin and wishing her a quick recovery,&#8221; the statement continued.
Chenoweth <a href="https://www.vulture.com/2023/01/kristin-chenoweth-the-good-wife-injury.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">went on to add</a> that it was one of the doctors who said her hair extensions had saved her. &#8220;My hair extensions, you know, made the hairline fracture go together,&#8221; she said. &#8220;My doctor said, &#8216;What are these metal things?&#8217; And I said, &#8216;They&#8217;re hair extensions.&#8217; And he said, &#8216;They saved your life.&#8217; So, anyone who wants to get hair extensions should, for your health.&#8221;
The actress also told Cohen that her one regret was not suing CBS, noting that her injuries were still a factor in her life.
&#8220;I didn&#8217;t do it out of fear and anxiety, so don&#8217;t ever let fear rule your life. I have long-standing injuries from that. I wish I had listened to my dad, who said, &#8216;You&#8217;re gonna wanna do this,'&#8221; she added, noting that her family wasn&#8217;t really litigious by nature, but exceptions should be made for situations that could potentially have been deadly.
Chenoweth has previously mentioned the accident in a 2022 essay for her collection — titled &#8220;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/My-Moment-Women-Fighting-Themselves/dp/1982160926" target="_blank" rel="noopener">My Moment: 106 Women on Fighting for Themselves</a>&#8221; — and she argued that CBS should have done more to &#8220;take responsibility&#8221; for the accident and her injuries.
&#8220;Unfortunately, the powers that be at CBS at the time did not take responsibility for what happened to me, but there&#8217;s a new regime at the network and they&#8217;re just lovely to work with. Leadership matters. Full stop,&#8221; she wrote.
Chenoweth ultimately left the show because of the injuries sustained in that accident.

Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen – Season 20

‘Wicked’ Star Says Hair Extensions Saved Her Life After A Freak Accident On A CBS Show Set

'Wicked' Star Kristin Chenoweth Says Hair Extensions Saved Her Life After A Freak Accident On A CBS Show Set

Television

Producers of the new <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/broadway">Broadway</a> show “KPOP: The Musical” are demanding The New York Times apologize for a negative review from critic Jesse Green they described as &#8220;casual <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/racism">racism</a>.&#8221;
“We are the producers of the recently opened Broadway musical, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/south-korea">KPOP</a>, and we are writing to ask that you issue an apology to the cast and creators of our show for the insensitive and, frankly, offensive review written by Jesse Green,” a letter sent to NYT chairman and publisher A.G. Sulzberger and Theater Editor Nicole Herrington says, in part.
“To be clear, we respect Mr. Green’s right to be critical of the show. What we are asking you to address is the cultural insensitivity, underlying ignorance of and distaste for K-pop as a genre and what comes across as casual racism in his review,” it continues, per the <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/12/04/kpop-musical-demands-apology-after-racist-new-york-times-review/">New York Post</a>. “That this would be the case in The New York Times is, frankly, astonishing.”
The letter, written by producers Tim Forbes and Joey Parnes, asks, “Is a Broadway show valid only if it is centered on and catering exclusively to a white, English-speaking audience?” 
<a class="c-link" tabindex="-1" href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus?utm_campaign=dwplus&amp;utm_medium=editorial&amp;utm_source=dwsite&amp;cid=dwplus&amp;mid=z&amp;xid=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus?utm_campaign=dwplus&amp;utm_medium=editorial&amp;utm_source=dwsite&amp;cid=dwplus&amp;mid=z&amp;xid=0" data-sk="tooltip_parent" data-remove-tab-index="true" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-10632">TIRED OF THE LEGACY MEDIA’S BIAS CONTROLLING THE NARRATIVE AND OBSCURING THE TRUTH? JOIN US AND SAVE 30%.</a>
Several “KPOP” cast members also called out the review, with actor Andrew Lim taking issue with Green using the descriptor “squint-inducing.”
Lim said Green&#8217;s word choice was an act of &#8220;disrespect&#8221; and said Green should &#8220;find better words.&#8221; 
“If you are not an Asian American that has been made fun of for their squinty eyes or their slanty eyes, I’m sorry, I don’t want to hear from you right now. You can take a seat,” Lim <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Clh_iXMLpfw/">shared</a> on Instagram. 
Green’s review mostly focuses on how the show would only be entertaining for fans with some prior knowledge of the Korean pop music genre. His “squint-inducing” line references the lighting, not the actors. 
“By then, if you are not a fan, you may feel worn out by the aggressive mimicry of the K-pop performance style, not just in the mostly electronic arrangements but also in the minutely detailed choreography by Jennifer Weber, the squint-inducing lighting by Jiyoun Chang and the hundreds of can-you-top-this costumes by Clint Ramos and Sophia Choi,” Green <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/27/theater/kpop-review-broadway.html">writes</a>.
“ &#8230; Those who aren’t hard-core fans of the genre or don’t understand Korean — let alone those who saw the radically different and far superior Off Broadway version in 2017 — will have a harder time enjoying this one,” he says of the show. “For them, the musical is less an eye-opener than an ear-pounder, assiduously drowning out any ambitions it may once have had to be more.”
Other reviews of the show were mixed, but so far, producers have only singled out The New York Times and Green for &#8220;casual racism.&#8221;  
“KPOP: The Musical” is currently playing in New York’s Circle in the Square Theatre.

US-ENTERTAINMENT-BROADWAY-KPOP

KPOP Musical Producers Demand Apology From New York Times For ‘Casual Racism’ In Show Review

KPOP Musical Producers Demand Apology From New York Times For 'Casual Racism' In Show Review

Asian American

Media

New York Times

Racism

An interpreter for the Broadway show “The Lion King” is suing over his termination, claiming that he was fired because of his skin color.
The American Sign Language interpreter, Keith Wann, is a white man. He was asked to substitute for a “BIPOC” interpreter, but then got an email essentially telling him he could no longer do the job.
He claimed that he got an email from the Theatre Development Fund accessibility programs on April 2 saying that &#8220;it’s no longer appropriate to have White interpreters represent Black characters for ASL Broadway shows.&#8221;
Wann and his lawyer, Josh Pepper, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/broadways-lion-king-facing-lawsuit-allegedly-firing-sign-language-interpreter-white" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spoke</a> to “Fox &amp; Friends” on Monday about the lawsuit.
Wann said he “just looked at it and said, ‘What they’re saying here — I think this is illegal,’” which is when he spoke to the attorney.
Pepper explained, “It’s pretty straightforward. They pretty much admit in their email that they are retracting the offer because he is white.”
He explained a “Reconstruction Era statute” which states “people have the right to contract regardless of their race.”
He said it &#8220;was intended to protect the former slaves — to protect black people from not being able to have their businesses.” In 1976, he noted, the Supreme Court decided that white people could also bring lawsuits under the statute in a decision that was penned by Thurgood Marshall, the first black Supreme Court Justice.
“We think it’s a strong case that they refused to give him this job because he is white,&#8221; Pepper said. &#8220;The statute says you can’t do that, and so we want to recover the money that he would’ve been paid.&#8221;
Last week, as the New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/11/12/lion-king-sign-language-interpreter-keith-wann-says-he-was-fired-for-being-white/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>, Wann filed a federal discrimination lawsuit against the Theatre Development Fund, as well as its director of accessibility programs, Lisa Carling.
Wann received an email from Carling requesting that he and another interpreter exit the show, noting “the current social climate.”
“With great embarrassment and apologies, I’m asking you both to please back out of interpreting the show for us on Sunday, April 24,” Carling wrote, according to the Post. “I don’t see any other way out of this. It seems like the best solution.”
Carling made the request because of the director of ASL for “The Lion King,” who told her to fire all interpreters who weren’t black, per an additional email obtained by the Post and discussed in the lawsuit.
“The majority of the characters in the Lion King are black actors and the content takes place in Africa,” Guy wrote to Carling on April 1. “Keith Wann, though an amazing ASL performer, is not a black person and therefore should not be representing Lion King.”
“Wrong is wrong. … The decision they said in the email was wrong,&#8221; Wann said on Fox. &#8220;If you insert a different color, if you insert a different race, it is wrong. You are not allowed to fire somebody because of that reason.”
He also said there is &#8220;some false narrative out there that I’m trying to push my way into this space that is not my space. There was already a team established. They were asking me to come in and help them out…”

B7BDEE4D-D7CC-4943-AB6D-8D76E785DE3B_1_201_a

Broadway Sign Language Interpreter Sues After He Was Allegedly Fired Because He Is White

Broadway Sign Language Interpreter Keith Wann Sues After He Was Allegedly Fired Because He Is White

Discrimination

General

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/entertainment">Ticket sales</a> for “The Phantom of the Opera” soared just after the long-running <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/broadway">Broadway</a> show announced it would be closing forever.
“The tills are alive with the sound of the music of the night!&#8221; producer Cameron Mackintosh <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/09/18/phantom-of-the-opera-sales-explode-after-shock-closing-announcement/">told</a> The New York Post of the increased revenue as the show’s end looms. Apparently, it raked in $2 million in sales following the announcement. But this renewed popularity will not change the fact that “Phantom of the Opera” will close in February.
The award-winning show will be staging a huge party for its 35th anniversary, then shutting down for good shortly after. There have been 13,000 performances at the Majestic Theatre in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/new-york-city">New York City</a> since opening on January 26, 1988, making it the longest-running show on Broadway. The producer mentioned how “Chicago” is the second longest and costs less to run.
“Everyone thinks these shows can go on forever, but you can’t run a big show at these margins anymore,” the producer told The Post. 
He mentioned that while it used to take $800,000 to put on, now the post-pandemic cost has skyrocketed closer to $950,000. That number is not sustainable.
“The 35-year run is even more miraculous when you consider how huge it is,” Mackintosh continued. “There comes a tipping point in the life of any show. The number of losing weeks was rising even before COVID.”
“The encouraging thing is that there is still a terrific resilience and an insistence to come to shows,” the producer continued. “It’s going to be a bumpy ride, but people are turning up!”
Broadway shows, in general, have struggled to return to pre-pandemic levels, even after theaters dropped the vaccine mandate for guests. Forbes <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/leeseymour/2022/05/04/broadway-attendance-plummets-as-market-teeters-theaters-drop-vaccine-mandate/?sh=4d5a70df177c">reported</a> in May that gross ticket sales fell 15%, and only three-quarters of all seats were occupied compared to the same week in 2019, with the same number of shows, when shows were 90% full.
Even popular shows like “Hamilton” failed to sell out as usual. Add that to the increased cost of running these shows, which leads to a conclusion where even mainstays like “The Phantom of the Opera” can be put on the chopping block.
Tourism in New York City is also down significantly as rising crime rates and high-profile attacks are making headlines. Broadway enthusiasts may be less likely to head into the city to see a show if they’re worried about safety.

“Phantom Of The Opera” Reopening Night

‘Phantom Of The Opera’ Ticket Sales Explode After Show Announces It’s Shutting Down

'Phantom Of The Opera' Ticket Sales Explode After Show Announces It's Shutting Down

Lea Michele has officially replaced Beanie Feldstein as Fanny Brice in the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/broadway">Broadway</a> revival of “Funny Girl,” and her former “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/entertainment">Glee</a>” co-star Samantha Ware has feelings about it.
Michele was rumored to be taking the spot, and as of this week, those rumors came true. Ware posted on Twitter about the situation, <a href="https://twitter.com/Sammie_Ware/status/1546561221716893696">saying</a>, “Yes, I’m online today. Yes, I see y’all. Yes, I care. Yes, im affected. Yes, I’m human. Yes, I’m Black. Yes, I was abused. Yes, my dreams were tainted. Yes, Broadway upholds whiteness. Yes, Hollywood does the same. Yes, silence is complicity. Yes, I’m loud. Yes, I’d do it again.”
Her ire is likely related to accusations Ware made against Michele on Twitter two years ago, where she alleged that the 35-year-old actress made her life a “living hell” on the set of “Glee” and even threatened to defecate in Ware’s wig, per <a href="https://ew.com/theater/glee-samantha-ware-lea-michele-funny-girl-reaction/">Entertainment Weekly</a>.
&#8220;[Michele] said I don&#8217;t deserve to have that job,&#8221; Ware told Variety during an <a href="https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/samantha-ware-glee-lea-michele-interview-black-actress-hollywood-1234631015/">interview</a> at the time. &#8220;She talked about how she has reign. And here&#8217;s the thing: I completely understood that, and I was ready to be like, &#8216;This is your show. I&#8217;m not here to be disrespectful.&#8217; But at that point, we were already past the respect and she was just abusing her power.&#8221;
&#8220;Am I calling Lea a racist? No,&#8221; the actress said. &#8220;Does Lea have racist tendencies? I think Lea suffers from a symptom of living in this world in an industry that is tailored to white people.&#8221;
Michele never said she behaved badly toward Ware, but she did issue a general apology to anyone she hurt. 
“While I don&#8217;t remember ever making this specific statement and I have never judged others by their background or color of their skin, that&#8217;s not really the point, what matters is that I clearly acted in ways which hurt other people,” the “Glee” alum said in a statement, per <a href="https://ew.com/tv/lea-michele-apology-glee-samantha-marie-ware/">EW</a>.  
“Whether it was my privileged position and perspective that caused me to be perceived as insensitive or inappropriate at times or whether it was just my immaturity and me just being unnecessarily difficult, I apologize for my behavior and for any pain which I have caused,” she said. 
The publication noted that Michele won’t be eligible for a Tony Award for her new lead role in “Funny Girl.” 
A source told <a href="https://pagesix.com/2022/07/11/beanie-feldstein-basically-fired-before-quitting-funny-girl/">Page Six</a> that Feldstein was replaced due to declining ticket sales. While Michele won’t reunite with her other “Glee” co-star Jane Lynch, who was portraying the mother in the show, she is expected to draw bigger crowds than her predecessor.

Lea Michele Samantha Ware

‘Broadway Upholds Whiteness’: Lea Michele’s ‘Glee’ Co-Star Reacts After ‘Funny Girl’ Casting News

Lea Michele's 'Glee' Co-Star Reacts With Anger After 'Funny Girl' Casting News

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