Entertainment
Spencer Pratt Meets With Donald Trump Over Federal Film and TV Tax Incentive
Despite Spencer Pratt losing the Los Angeles mayoral election to Nithya Raman and Karen Bass, the former reality star is now teaming with President Donald Trump in an apparent effort to save Hollywood’s film and television industry with a federal tax incentive.
Pratt said Friday that he recently met with Trump to lobby for the tax incentive, an effort that has been stalled and revived repeatedly for more than a year.
“Working with the President on a 25% FEDERAL film tax credit to bring back Hollywood,” Pratt said in a Friday Instagram post. “While Gavin Newsom’s commissioner is actively outsourcing production jobs to Hungary, and his rogue AG is trying to destroy CA production companies, the adults in the room are actually trying to repatriate the most quintessential American industry.”
He continued: “I’m committed to saving Hollywood, and I’m very grateful for the President’s remarkable generosity and focus on this issue. He is very passionate about revitalizing the entertainment industry and we will not let Canada, or the U.K. or Budapest steal our lunch anymore. Speaking of lunch…best clam chowder I ever had. We discussed several other very important topics, as well. I’m humbled and grateful for all the time and discussion from the President. Unlike many other cynical doomers out there, he refuses to write off California.”
It’s unclear what his role will be, whether he becomes a lobbyist or joins actors like Jon Voight who the president appointed as a “special ambassador” of the initiative.
Representatives for Newsom, Pratt and Trump did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
This is not the first time Pratt has taken to social media to make a fiery political statement. After losing the mayoral election in June, he took to social media attacking Raman and incumbent Mayor Bass, calling them “commy animals” and insisting that his “mission to save Los Angeles” was not over.
“If you’re gonna stop me, you’re going to have to f–king kill me,” he said in an Instagram video at the time, using a clip of Julia Garner’s performance in “Ozark.”
“I don’t have campaign laws hamstringing me now. It’s war. It’s zero hour for Los Angeles,” Pratt added.
Raman defeated Pratt for the second position in the mayoral runoff against Mayor Bass. With 99% of the votes counted, Bass came out on top with 34% of the vote, Raman in second with 29% and Pratt just behind at 25.5%.
Bass and Raman will go head-to-head in November for the mayoral seat, where bringing TV and film jobs back to the Golden State remains a key issue.
>
Entertainment
Inaugural LA Jazz Festival, Featuring John Legend, Postponed Indefinitely
The inaugural Los Angeles Jazz Festival was shaping up to be a massive two-week musical celebration, featuring the likes of Janelle Monáe and John Legend. Now, just hours before the festival was meant to kickoff on Friday, festival founder Martin Ludlow has announced that it’s been postponed indefinitely.
“Due to significant, unanticipated last-minute public safety and municipal costs associated with the final permitting of the On The Beach Festival, we have reached the decision to unfortunately postpone this year’s inaugural LA Jazz Festival,” Ludlow said in a statement on Friday. “Although this decision was an extremely difficult one to reach, our commitment to the audiences and artists participating in the festival is to have a first-class experience worthy of the great legacy of Jazz and our great city.”
According to the LA Times, organizers hoped that 250,000 attendees would be drawn in for the two-week festival, which was set to open Friday in Leimert Park. There were several components to the festival, including free Jazz in the Park concerts across the county and a series of Jazz After Dark performances. Monáe and Legend, as well as Charlie Wilson, Raphael Saadiq and Parliament Funkadelic featuring George Clinton, were among the names set to close out the festival with a two-night celebration at Dockweiler Beach on Aug. 22 and 23.
The LA Jazz Festival website now says, “updated event info coming soon” for Aug. 22 and 23, though the LA Times reports that that portion of the festival has also been fully canceled.
“We are so grateful to all the artists — from our headliners to our musicians in the parks, many of whom went above and beyond to make this affordable to the community,” Ludlow said in the statement. “All current ticket holders for LA Jazz Festival events will be refunded in full within 30 days. We apologize deeply for this situation and vow to make this right over time.” You can view the full statement below.
The festival was the initiative of Ludlow, the CEO of the live events company Bridge Street Inc. Ludlow was once a Los Angeles City Council member before he resigned in 2006 and pleaded guilty to misappropriating funds and pivoting to community activism and his new company. The festival was announced back in February, with 75% of the tickets said to be free.
“We were encouraged by the enthusiastic support of the artists on the bill, the fans and our sponsors for this inaugural event, and we look forward to presenting all of the components of this incredible cultural opportunity for Los Angeles and the world in 2027 and beyond,” Ludlow said in the Friday statement.
>
Entertainment
Robert Carradine’s Family Sues UCLA Hospital Leadership for Wrongful Death
Warning: This story contains details of self-harm and suicide.
Robert Carradine’s family sued the regents of the University of California for wrongful death and elder abuse and neglect Friday, alleging that failures at UCLA’s facility contributed to the actor’s death.
“Robert walked into UCLA’s locked psychiatric unit ‘feeling relieved to be hospitalized’ and hoped that ‘additional inpatient treatment would’ reduce his anxiety,” the filing, which was obtained and viewed by TheWrap, stated. “He was happy to be in a ‘locked, structured environment’ where he could rest – one that felt ‘containing and helpful.’”
The document continued: “But Robert’s hopes for successful treatment didn’t match the reality he had stepped into. Instead of walking into a safe environment, he walked into a locked facility that broke a cardinal rule for a hospitalized psychiatric patient with active suicidal thoughts and a history of suicide attempts.”
Specifically, Carradine’s family alleged that “UCLA let him walk into a locked psychiatric unit with a belt,” which can be used to “cause self-harm or hanging.”
The suit argued that it is “standard” for psychiatric hospitals to remove belts, as well as shoelaces and drawstrings, with UCLA’s own policy listing “belts and belt buckles” as contraband.
“The belongings form that UCLA generated from Robert’s admission shows the facility failed to confiscate his belt,” the document claimed. “UCLA also left a rolling bedside table in his room, which was not a standard piece of furniture in the locked psych unit.”
Per the filing, Carradine died by suicide 19 hours later.
“None of this happened because UCLA lacked the knowledge, the policies or the means,” the document added. “It happened because UCLA took shortcuts with two safeguards that were meant to protect Robert’s life.”
Carradine’s family also alleged that the hospital failed to check in on the actor “every 15 minutes,” claiming “no one watched him or checked on him for long periods of time.”
“Robert never regained consciousness,” the filing stated. “He suffered an anoxic brain injury and spent the next five weeks in the intensive care unit. He never recovered and died on February 23, 2026.”
The lawsuit also alleged that UCLA “did not investigate reality,” instead it preserved “a version of events in the records that the surveillance video contradicted.”
Carradine’s loved ones are seeking general damages, special and economic damages, as well as wrongful damages from the defendants.
Representatives for the regents of the University of California did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
This update comes nearly six months after word of Carradine’s death, which was confirmed by the “Revenge of the Nerds” star’s family.
“It is with profound sadness that we must share that our beloved father, grandfather, uncle and brother Robert Carradine has passed away,” the family wrote in a statement to media in February. “In a world that can feel so dark, Bobby was always a beacon on light to everyone around him. We are bereft at the loss of this beautiful soul and want to acknowledge Bobby’s valiant struggle against his nearly two-decade battle with Bipolar Disorder.”
They continued: “We hope his journey can shine a light and encourage addressing the stigma that attaches to mental illness. At this time we ask for the privacy to grieve this unfathomable loss. With gratitude for your understanding and compassion.”
He was born Robert Reed Carradine on March 24, 1954 in Los Angeles, Calif. to actress Sonia Sorel and actor John Carradine, a member of the storied Carradine acting family, which also includes his brothers, actors David Carradine, Keith Carradine and Disney Imagineer Christopher Carradine.
Carradine followed in his famous family’s footsteps, becoming best known for his work in the aforementioned “Revenge of the Nerds” films, “The Long Riders” and Disney Channel’s “Lizzie McGuire.”
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org.
>
movies
‘Supermax’ Movie: Jason Clarke Latest To Join Cast (EXCLUSIVE)
EXCLUSIVE: Jason Clarke has closed a deal to join Supermax, the new action-thriller from Amazon MGM Studios and Miramax, Deadline has learned.
Character details are under wraps. The Australian actor is the second of the week to join following Jaafar Jackson, the breakout star of Lionsgate’s Michael.
The pair will share the screen with Will Smith and AnnaSophia Robb, who play two FBI agents investigating a seemingly impossible murder within the impenetrable walls of a maximum-security prison.
David Gordon Green is directing from a script by David Weil and David J. Rosen, with The Picture Company’s Andrew Rona & Alex Heineman producing alongside Smith and Adam Fishbach for Westbrook Studios.
Weil and Rosen are exec producing alongside Miramax CEO Jonathan Glickman, President of Film Alexandra Loewy, COO Thom Zadra and SVP Spencer Ela, as well as James Lassiter and Miguel Melendez for Westbrook Studios, with Natalie Laine Williams serving as associate producer.
Recently seen leading the series The Last Frontier and Murdaugh: Death in the Family for Apple and Hulu, respectively, Clarke is currently in talks for a role in Michael Mann’s Heat 2. We were first to report on him being eyed for the anticipated Amazon MGM/UA sequel back in May.
Most recently on set of A Quiet Place 3 for Paramount/Skydance and director John Krasinski, Clarke will also be seen coming up in the Amazon MGM thriller Ally Clark with Viola Davis, as well as Tom McCarthy’s The Statement for Sony Pictures Classics, and Warner Bros.’ Taylor Sheridan-penned F.A.S.T.
CAA Media Finance brokered the deal between Miramax and Amazon MGM, which will release Supermax on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.
Clarke is repped by Robert Stein Management, CAA, and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman.
>
-
movies3 months agoSearch For Canadian TV Actor Stewart McLean Now Homicide Investigation
-
Fashion9 years agoThese ’90s fashion trends are making a comeback in 2017
-
Fashion9 years agoAccording to Dior Couture, this taboo fashion accessory is back
-
Fashion9 years agoModel Jocelyn Chew’s Instagram is the best vacation you’ve ever had
-
Fashion9 years agoYour comprehensive guide to this fall’s biggest trends
-
Fashion9 years ago9 Celebrities who have spoken out about being photoshopped
-
Fashion9 years agoEmily Ratajkowski channels back-to-school style
-
Fashion9 years agoA photo diary of the nightlife scene from LA To Ibiza
