Entertainment

Gladys Knight Says She Will Cut Back on Live Shows Amid Dementia Concerns

Published

49 minutes ago

August 29, 2026

Gladys Knight said she is taking a step back from performing to focus on her grandchildren and projects with her husband.

The lead singer of Gladys Knight & the Pips, 82, wrote in a statement on Instagram Friday that she will have fewer performances moving forward to be more present in her personal life.

“After much soul searching, I’ve decided that I will be easing into fewer performances while focusing on transitioning into the next stage of my career and life moving forward,” the “Midnight Train to Georgia” singer wrote. “I’ll be spending more time on projects with my husband and visiting with my grandbabies and am looking forward to this new era.”

Her announcement comes amid reports that the Empress of Soul appeared to be suffering from dementia symptoms in recent shows. Fans online said that the singer looked out of it onstage and confused at times.

Her July 25 show at the Hollywood Bowl, specifically, had fans concerned, because she seemed disoriented while performing her hit song, “Midnight Train to Georgia.”

The soul singer directly addressed her fans in her statement, thanking them for their support over her seven-decade career.

“I’d like to take a moment, in advance, to thank all my fans over this last three quarters of a century for making a little girl’s dream come true and supporting her every step of the way,” she wrote. “I am immensely grateful to all of you and send my eternal love back to you. I hope to see your smiling faces out and about and on the road. God bless all of you and hope to see you soon.”

William McDowell, Knight’s husband of 25 years, who is also her manager, gave a statement to TMZ, in which he expressed support for his wife’s decisions.

“No one is ever gonna make me say, ‘My wife is well,’ but all she wants to do is sing,” he said. While he clarified to the outlet that she has not been diagnosed with dementia, they do plan to have her evaluated.

The singer was set to tour through mid-November, but she has not yet shared which dates of the tour will be canceled.

Knight’s son, Shanga Hankerson, has previously accused McDowell of “elder abuse” against his mother. Hankerson raised concerns about her mental decline in a 2025 interview, noting that he did not want her to tour anymore.

Hankerson claimed he filed a complaint with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, accusing his mother’s current husband of mental and financial abuse. Knight, however, denied the allegations.

TheWrap has reached out to Knight’s team for further comment.

movies

CA Lawmakers Compromise With Film Industry On Corporate Tax Credit Cap

Published

12 seconds ago

August 29, 2026

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The California production community can breathe a sigh of relief: State lawmakers have officially introduced a bill meant to allow studios a few key exemptions from a recently enacted restriction on corporate tax credits.

AB136, introduced Friday evening, addresses concerns raised from stakeholders including the Motion Picture Association about the threat of undermining the efforts to expand California’s Film & TV Tax Credit pool to $750 million.

Lawmakers have to consider legislation for 72 hours before voting. With that in mind, a vote on AB136 is likely to come Monday evening, hours before the midnight end to the legislative session.

The state budget, passed this summer, seeks to stabilize revenue by preventing corporations from offsetting more than $5 million in tax liability annually for the next three years. Several advocacy groups pushed for a complete exemption, but the solution introduced by lawmakers on Friday evening does fall short of that.

Instead, only independent productions will be completely exempt from the $5 million cap. The legislation also addresses concerns about the payback period for studios that have elected to refund credits for cash. Current law allows studios to get cash instead of claiming the credit against tax liability for a 10% discount on the total with a payback period of five years. The fix accelerates that to two years with just a 5% discount.

The new legislation will also extend the expiration date of the non-refundable tax credits that were issued prior to 2025.

Entertainment

Rosie O’Donnell Wraps Up Jimmy Kimmel Live Week as Top Guest Host

Published

6 minutes ago

August 29, 2026

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Rosie O’Donnell wrapped up her week guest hosting on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” to impressive numbers, ranking as the highest-rated summer substitute thus far.

For the week of Aug. 17, O’Donnell averaged a total viewership of 2.17 million and a demo viewership of 237,000 viewers, according to live-plus-three-day viewing figures from Nielsen reported by LateNighter.

O’Donnell’s week of hosting marks the ABC late night show’s most-watched week in both measures since mid-June, before Kimmel tossed the show over to a suite of guest hosts, including Tiffany Haddish, Anthony Anderson, Ike Barinholtz and Colman Domingo.

In fact, viewership for O’Donnell’s week of hosting was up in both categories from the week of Aug. 9, which was headed up by Anderson. Total viewership for O’Donnell was up 40% from the previous week, while demo viewership saw a 34% rise.

With that, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” maintained its lead on NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” which averaged 1.43 million viewers and 171,000 demo viewers, as well as “Comics Unleashed,” which averaged 654,000 total viewers and 75,000 demo viewers across the same hour.

O’Donnell’s stint hosting also boosted ratings for ABC’s “Nightline” as it picked up at 12:35 a.m. The show averaged 918,000 total viewers – up 11% from the previous week — and 110,000 demo viewers — rising 20% from the previous week.

O’Donnell started her guest hosting week strong. On Monday, Aug. 17, O’Donnell brought in 1.87 million total viewers, according to preliminary Nielsen live-plus-same-day figures reported by LateNighter, which marked the biggest audience for any of Kimmel’s guest hosts so far this summer.

Country music artist Jelly Roll took the baton from O’Donnell for the week of Aug. 24. So far, Jelly Roll’s Monday audience landed at 1.07 million viewers, down 11% from the previous Monday when O’Donnell held the stage. Full ratings for Jelly Roll’s week of hosting will be available next week.

movies

Tennessee Governor Plans To Rename Nashville Airport For Dolly Parton

Published

8 minutes ago

August 29, 2026

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As the world mourns Dolly Parton, Tennessee has plans to immortalize the late Queen of Country while welcoming visitors to Music City.

On Friday, Gov. Bill Lee‘s office announced a partnership with the Nashville International Airport (BNA) in conversations with Parton’s team to rename the airport in honor of the 11x Grammy-winning country pop/songstress, who died at age 80 on Tuesday.

The Metro Nashville Airport Authority will discuss its naming policy and Gov. Lee’s proposal to rename the airport at its Thursday, Sept. 17 meeting.

“Dolly Parton’s extraordinary life is forever woven into the fabric of our state,” said Gov. Lee in a statement. “From her rural mountain home in East Tennessee to global stages, Dolly carried the Volunteer Spirit with her.

“At a place where Tennessee welcomes the world, it is fitting that Nashville International Airport would bear the name of our state’s favorite daughter and greet travelers with the enduring legacy of Dolly’s music, generosity, faith and kindness,” he added.

Born Jan. 19, 1946 in Pittman Center, Tennessee, Parton lived with husband Carl Dean in his native Nashville for several years, and he died there last March at age 82.

Parton’s family announced that she died in Nashville on Tuesday following a brief sickness with cancer. Although she remained busy until her final days, the “I Will Always Love You” artist had dealt with health issues over the past year.