Steve Pond's Blog, page 112

How to Watch the Kids’ Choice Awards Live

We may technically be between awards seasons right now, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t still awards to be handed out — big, orange blimpy ones.

Yes, Nickelodeon’s annual Kids’ Choice Awards are upon us once again, honoring kids’ favorites in both TV and movies. There are plenty of familiar faces set to attend and perform, as always, so we’ve rounded up all the information you need to know.

You can check out the details below.

When are they?

The 2025 Kids’ Choice Awards will take place on Saturday, June 21 at 8 p.m. ET/PT (7 p.m. central).

Are they streaming?

They are not. If you want to watch the Kids’ Choice Awards live, you’ll be able to catch it on TV, simulcast on Nickelodeon, TeenNick, Nicktoons, the Nick Jr. channel, MTV2 and CMT.

Who’s hosting?

Grammy-winning singer and songwriter Tyla is hosting the show this year.

Who’s nominated?

This year’s nominees include Selena Gomez, Ariana Grande, Kendrick Lamar, Jack Black and more.

Do they still slime people?

They sure do! The Kids’ Choice Awards is still known as the “Slimiest Awards Show” by its own admission, so yes, you can probably expect some of your favorite celebrities getting hit by the green ooze.

The post How to Watch the Kids’ Choice Awards Live appeared first on TheWrap.

Lynn Hamilton, ‘Sanford and Son’ and ‘The Waltons’ Actress, Dies at 95

Lynn Hamilton, who played Redd Foxx’s girlfriend Donna on “Sandford and Son” and Miss Verdie on “The Waltons,” died Thursday of natural causes at her home in Chicago. She was 95.

Hamilton also played Vivian Potter on “Generations” from 1989 to 1991. Her additional credits included “Designing Women,” “Roots: The Next Generation,” “227” and “The Practice.”

Hamilton’s first appearance on “Sandford and Son” was in 1972 when she played a landlady who chastised Demond Wilson’s Lamont Sanford after he argued with his father, Fred Sanford, and then got his own place. Producers of the series decided to upgrade the role, and Hamilton became Fred’s girlfriend.

Alzenia Lynn Hamilton was born April 25, 1930, in Yazoo City, Mississippi. She and her family moved to Chicago when Hamilton was young, and she first began acting with a South Side theater company.

A 1956 move to New York City opened up opportunities and Hamilton was in four Broadway plays. She joined the Seattle Repertory Theatre in 1966 before moving to Los Angeles.

Hamilton was married to Frank Jenkins from 1964 until his death in 2014.

The Hollywood Reporter first reported news of her death.

The post Lynn Hamilton, ‘Sanford and Son’ and ‘The Waltons’ Actress, Dies at 95 appeared first on TheWrap.

Jack Betts, ‘Spider-Man’ Actor, Dies at 96

Jack Betts, who played Oscorp board chair Henry Balkan in Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man,” died Thursday in his home in Los Osos, California. He was 96.

Betts also played Dr. Ivan Kipling on “One Life to Live” from 1979-85 and moved on to parts on several soap operas, including “General Hospital,” “The Edge of Night,” “The Doctors,” “Another World,” “All My Children,” “Search for Tomorrow,” “Guiding Light,” “Loving” and “Generations.”

He also had parts in several spaghetti Westerns, though never quite reached the level of success he hoped for. As Betts said in a 2021 interview with The Dev Show, Clint Eastwood was often in the hotel next door while he filmed.

“He’d go up to his mountain and do his Western and I’d go up to my mountain and do my Western,” Betts explained. “But while his films had distribution all over the world, my films were distributed [everywhere] except Canada and America.”

Betts was inspired to become an actor after he saw Laurence Olivier in 1939’s “Wuthering Heights.” He graduated from Miami Senior High School before moving on to the University of Miami. Betts moved to New York and landed a role in the 1953 Broadway production of “Richard III.”

But that didn’t mean his career was a straight shot. Betts was working in a lamp factory when he helped a friend with her own audition for The Actor’s Studio and he received a scholarship offer from Lee Strasberg. Betts made his cinematic debut in 1959’s “The Bloody Brood.”

Betts was born April 11, 1929, in Jersey City, New Jersey. He is survived by his nephew Dean Sullivan, his nieces, Lynne and Gail, and his sister, Joan.

News of Betts’ death was first reported by the Hollywood Reporter.

The post Jack Betts, ‘Spider-Man’ Actor, Dies at 96 appeared first on TheWrap.

Alanis Morissette Says Work, Love, Sex and Shopping are Her ‘Whac-a-Mole’ Addictions: ‘There’s No Worth in Just Being’

Alanis Morissette is known for her honesty. In an expansive interview published on The Guardian on Saturday, the singer admitted to several addictions — or “relief-seeking measures that kill you eventually” — that include four she described as “Whac-a-mole addictions”: work, love, sex, and shopping.

Overworking is her strongest addiction, she added, “Because the number one priority is being clicked into some seed of productivity. There’s no worth in just being. And it’s a higher power thing, so work addiction is also called the praise addiction.”

“If I said, ‘Oh, I did heroin till four in the morning and totally blacked out,’ people would be like, ‘Oh shit. B–ch needs some help,'” she continued. “But if I said, ‘I’ve been working my f–king ass off for this deadline and I finished at 4.15 a.m.,’ people would be patting my back and be, like, ‘Good work, girl.’ It’s equally corrosive. Because any addiction, if we keep going with it, we’re dead. It is great for 20 minutes, then you’re dead.”

Elsewhere in the interview Morissette said she identifies as highly sensitive and as an empath, traits that have complicated her rise in the music industry.

“I have an anxious, depressive tendency. Those who are sensitive are much more susceptible to their environmental information,” she said. “If you put a highly sensitive person in an environment where they’re brow-beaten or reduced, they’ll basically want to kill themselves. It’s the worst. If you put a highly sensitive person in an environment where they’re supported, championed and listened to, they thrive.”

Morisette also touched on the 1990s, when her career really took off. “We thought that whole era was done, right? We sorted this out! Didn’t we? Oh, we didn’t. We dropped the ball. The collarbone thing came back in … and the hyper-sexualization thing is so boring,” she said.

“Of course, a perimenopausal woman’s going to say that, right? My procreative imperative is, thank f–king God, chilling out,” Morisette continued. “There are gorgeous things that come along with that – less people-pleasing, more directness. But I’m still in the middle of it. And that can be disconcerting. Most of my friends are in the middle of it, too, so we cut each other a lot of slack. My menopausal women friends are like, ‘Honey, it gets f–king great.’”

Read the interview in full on The Guardian.

The post Alanis Morissette Says Work, Love, Sex and Shopping are Her ‘Whac-a-Mole’ Addictions: ‘There’s No Worth in Just Being’ appeared first on TheWrap.

Mark Cuban Says He Turned Down Kamala Harris’ Offer to Be Considered for VP: ‘I’m Not Very Good as a No. 2’ | Video

Mark Cuban says he turned down an offer to be a candidate for Kamala Harris’ vice president, telling The Bulwark podcast that he didn’t even consider it because his personality isn’t right for the second-fiddle job.

The tech billionaire and “Shark Tank” host’s revelation during an appearance on Tim Miller’s podcast caught the attention of Fox News, where the hosts of “Fox & Friends Weekend” bandied about the idea of the Dallas Mavericks minority owner-as-veep.

“My response was I’m not very good as a number two person,” Cuban said on the clip they played from Tim Miller’s show. “It’s the last thing we need is me telling Kamala, ‘No, that’s a dumb idea.’ I’m not real good at shaking hands. My personality was different than times and backgrounds, and I think I’ve cut through the [bleep] more directly and impact on hearing — not a politician. So [I] would have been different but would have been awful … she would have fired me.”

Fox News guest contributor Kaylee McGhee White responded by saying Harris may have dodged a bullet – even if Cuban was only asked to go through the vetting process (and was not necessarily the top choice).

“The fact there’s an option worse than Tim Walz is really astounding, and I consider Mark Cuban to be far worse,” she said. “It’s interesting he says the reason not going through the vetting process is he didn’t want to be Kamala Harris’ No. 2. That suggests one of two things: Either Mark Cuban has political aspirations for the future, which are unfortunate consequences of Trump’s race, convinced every mid-celebrity they can be high up in the politics.”

She also considered that Cuban saw the Harris campaign as “a sinking ship.”

McGhee White added that Democrats are still looking for a scapegoat for Harris’ defeat, but disagreed with the notion that they have no leaders.

“They’re not leaderless or genderless and [there are] plenty of loud voices setting a tone for the party, and they happen to be trying to be arrested and storing these facilities and garaging into the press conferences,” she said. “And they want to train them to open the borders and flood with crime and chaos.”

Watch the entire exchange in the above clip.

The post Mark Cuban Says He Turned Down Kamala Harris’ Offer to Be Considered for VP: ‘I’m Not Very Good as a No. 2’ | Video appeared first on TheWrap.

Amy Poehler Admits to Offensive ‘SNL’ Sketches: ‘I Misappropriated … I Appropriated’ | Video

Amy Poehler has admitted that some of the sketches on “Saturday Night Live” were offensive and “appropriated.” The actor and comedian hosted her former costar Will Forte on her “Good Hang” podcast this week, and the conversation turned to their mutual former work environment.

Forte brought up “SNL” first, and told Poehler that when he reflects on the show, it is clear that many sketches are “all about getting a laugh” no matter what.

Poehler quickly agreed.

“The part about getting older and being in comedy is you have to figure out: Everything has an expiration date,” she said, before noting that the “In Memoriam” segment hosted by Tom Hanks during the show’s February 2025 50th Anniversary special offered several examples.

In one sketch from 2004, Ben Affleck yells at Fred Armisen’s character, who appears to be disabled, and Poehler’s character tells the actor, “Oh my god, Ben Affleck just yelled at that mentally challenged guy!”

“[It] which was like, ‘Here’s all the ways we got things wrong. And they showed way inappropriate casting for people. We all played people that we should not have played,” she said of the segment. “I misappropriated. I appropriated. I didn’t know. I did know.”

“It’s very real, and the best thing you can do is make repairs, learn from your mistakes, do better – it’s all you can do,” Poehler continued.

Watch the conversation between Poehler and Forte in the video above.

The post Amy Poehler Admits to Offensive ‘SNL’ Sketches: ‘I Misappropriated … I Appropriated’ | Video appeared first on TheWrap.

James Carville Blames Trump’s ‘Idiot War’ Plans on Syphilis: ‘Obviously Diminished Mental Skills’ | Video

Donald Trump’s potential “idiot war” with Iran might be due to an undiagnosed (or at least not publicly shared) case of syphilis, James Carville said on “Politics War Room.” The president can wear make-up on his face, Carville added, but that cannot “cover up the slurred language, the stupidity, the ravenous effects this has on a person’s body, on their mind, on everything else.”

Carville began the Thursday episode by noting that he has wondered aloud about red splotches on Trump’s hands since January 2024. Such markings “could be a professional sign of syphilis, a venereal disease, a tertiary syphilis,” he said.

The topic was never properly looked into, he continued, and then the political news cycle moved on to other topics, and now the world is collectively waiting to see if Trump will attempt to have Congress authorize US involvement in Israel and Iran’s war.

“Does anybody really think the son of a b–ch knows where Iran is?” Carvilla asked. “Of course you don’t. He has no f–king idea. He has no idea what a Sunni, what a Shia is. He has no idea what a Persian is. He has no idea of anything.”

“It’s obviously that he’s had, like all people, older people, me included, he’s had some diminished capacity,” Carville also added. “Fortunately, I’m unable to start a war. Unfortunately, he is, which makes a lot of difference.”

Carville later implored political pundits and investigators to take his theory – which he’s espoused several times in the past – seriously.

“What’s happening right now is a guy is starting to talk about hauling off and starting to war and who very well, reasonably … could have a really diseased mental capacity, above and beyond just the normal effects of aging and what comes with that.”

“We’re not being served by sitting here silently and you’re not being served by a commentariat that basically has one thumb up his ass and one thumb in its mouth and is switching every f–king 30 seconds. Go do your job,” he continued. “Find out what’s going on with his hand. Find out what’s going on with his capacity. Have people look at his slurred language. Have people look at the deterioration that’s going on right now and the madness and the corruption and all of the other s–t that’s going on … Look at what’s right in front of you.”

Watch the episode of “War Room” in the video above.

The post James Carville Blames Trump’s ‘Idiot War’ Plans on Syphilis: ‘Obviously Diminished Mental Skills’ | Video appeared first on TheWrap.

Bill Maher Questions Trump’s 2-Week Wait on Decision to Bomb Iran: ‘Talk About a Cliffhanger’

Bill Maher could not help but question Donald Trump’s decision to wait two weeks to choose a course of action on the bombing of Iran, and devoted a good portion of Friday’s “Real Time” monologue to the big “cliffhanger.”

“There’s a war going on now between Iran and Israel, and it’s interesting, it’s really split the MAGA coalition.” Maher said as he noted that in the 22 years of his hosting of show the Middle East being embroiled in conflict once again was not surprising. “Half of them want to bomb Iran. They always did, and half of them want to just stay out of all foreign wars. And everybody just wishes that it was something morally clear-cut, like deporting five year olds.”

Tensions in the Middle East escalated over the last week as Israel and Iran began enacting deadly missing strikes against each other. The U.S. decision to get involved in the foreign conflict has centered largely around Iran’s access to nuclear weaponry — which Trump insists the nation already has. However, the president’s Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard says they do not have access to such a weapon yet. On Thursday, the White House said the president would make a decision “within two weeks” on whether to join Israel’s fight against Iran.

“Two weeks, but talk about a cliffhanger,” Maher joked. “I mean, nobody wants Iran to get a nuclear weapon. And of course, the Israelis took out everything in Iran except the facility that can build a nuclear weapon. Well, because it’s inside a mountain. And listen to this, America is the only country that has a bomb that can reach it, and it weighs 30,000 pounds and can only be flown there by Tom Cruise.”

“To make it even more of a cliffhanger, we can’t just give the bomb to Israel, because we also are the only country that has the plane that can deliver this f–king thing,” Maher added.

The “Real Time” host also took a jab at Pete Hegseth, the former Fox News host turned Secretary of Defense for the Trump administration, whom many have said is unqualified to handled sensitive Situation Room topics like the bombing of a foreign nation. Maher said that Hegseth failed to draw sizable crowds at the president’s military parade last weekend.

“Pete’s in hot water because, if you see the parade, he’s in charge of the Defense Department, and Trump had his big military parade last Saturday, and it was kind of Lame-O,” the host said. “And you know, when you put on a military parade, at least do it right. The whole point of it is kind of scare the s–t out of people. There were more Americans were frightened by Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show.”

“Real Time with Bill Maher” airs Fridays 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT

The post Bill Maher Questions Trump’s 2-Week Wait on Decision to Bomb Iran: ‘Talk About a Cliffhanger’ appeared first on TheWrap.

Dodgers Commit $1 Million to Immigrant Families Amid LA ICE Raids

The Los Angeles Dodgers are donating $1 million to immigrant families in the area who have been impacted by “recent events” across the city amid ongoing ICE raids.

The Word Championship team announced the pledge Friday in partnership with the City of Los Angeles and said to expect additional announcements in the coming days with other community organizations including the California Community Foundation and the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor. The statement, however, contained no specific mention of the raids, instead referring to them as “recent events” and omitting any mention of ICE at all.  

“What’s happening in Los Angeles has reverberated among thousands upon thousands of people, and we have heard the calls for us to take a leading role on behalf of those affected,” Stan Kasten, president & CEO of the Dodgers, said in a statement. “We believe that by committing resources and taking action, we will continue to support and uplift the communities of Greater Los Angeles.”

Mayor Karen Bass thanked the organization for supporting the immigrant community. “These last weeks have sent shockwaves of fear rippling through every neighborhood and have had a direct impact on our economy,” Bass said in a statement. “My message to all Angelenos is clear: We will stick together during this time and we will not turn our backs on one another — that’s what makes this the greatest city in the world.”

The announcement comes just one day after the Dodgers denied ICE access to the stadium on Thursday. The team said in an X post that the federal agents were denied entry.

“This morning, ICE agents came to Dodger Stadium and requested permission to access the parking lots,” the X post read. “They were denied entry to the grounds by the organization. Tonight’s game will be played as scheduled.”

In partnership with the City of Los Angeles, the Dodgers have committed $1 million toward direct financial assistance for families of immigrants impacted by recent events in the region. Additional community efforts to be announced in the coming days.

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) June 20, 2025

The Department of Homeland Security denied the report and said there was no plan to conduct a raid in or around the stadium. 

“This had nothing to do with the Dodgers,” the X post said. “CBP vehicles were in the stadium parking lot very briefly, unrelated to any operation or enforcement.”

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement also tweeted a response saying the report was “false” and that ICE agents “were never there.”

False. We were never there. https://t.co/ZquYiW0miQ

— U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (@ICEgov) June 19, 2025

The donation to immigrant families comes after growing backlash from several community groups and area officials calling on the organization, which has a large Latino fanbase, to speak up against the Trump administration’s barrage of raids around the community.

On Thursday, Rep. Jimmy Gomez, who represents L.A., said in a statement, “In a city where 36% of the residents are immigrants and nearly 40% of the team’s fan base is Latino, saying nothing is not just disappointing — it’s a betrayal and an insult. Silence is not an option. It’s a choice.” 

Dodgers player Kiké Hernandez wrote on Instagram Saturday speaking out against the raids. “I am saddened and infuriated by what’s happening in our country and our city,” his post read. “I cannot stand to see our community being violated, profiled, abused and ripped apart. ALL people deserve to be treated with respect, dignity and human rights.”

The post Dodgers Commit $1 Million to Immigrant Families Amid LA ICE Raids appeared first on TheWrap.

Ted Cruz Says Tucker Carlson Pressing Him on Iran Was an ‘Irrelevant Gotcha’ Moment: ‘He Felt Very Gleeful’ | Video

Sen. Ted Cruz is still not over the public humiliation inflicted on him by Tucker Carlson earlier this week. The Texas senator took to his own podcast, “Verdict with Ted Cruz,” Friday to give his side of the story.

In a viral clip released of Cruz’s sit-down interview with the former Fox News host turned podcaster, Carlson asked the senator what the population of Iran was before expressing shock at the senator’s admission that he didn’t know the exact figure off the top of his head.

“You don’t know the population in the country you seek to topple?” the conservative media personality asked. “How could you not know that?”

Cruz said that the clip was one “gotcha moment” out of two and a half hours of conversation.

“It was an irrelevant gotcha,” he said on his podcast Friday. “What Tucker did is he released it a day before the whole interview, so he picked, out of two hours, he thought that was the best 60 seconds cause he did get me to say the words, ‘I don’t know,’ and he felt very gleeful on that.”

Listen to the moment here:

The senator noted that after Carlson realized that Cruz did not know the figure he was “vibrating.”

“He did the sort of classic Tucker, ‘What!? How can you not know that!?’” he continued. “Looking as if I had admitted to, I don’t know, committing treason or something.”

Cruz said that for what it’s worth he would have guessed the population was 90 million. He also made a point to note that the actual population of Iran is 89 million, and Carlson claimed it was 92 million, “which I think is funny because I assume he Google searched it right before the interview,” he added.

He also added that the reason Carlson put that clip out first was because a large portion of the former Fox News host’s views on Israel did not align with the president’s which, according to Cruz, became clear from the rest of the interview.

“[Carlson] didn’t want to stand with Israel,” the senator said. “He was deeply opposed to Israel and he was deeply opposed to President Trump’s policy.”

Earlier this week, the senator responded to the embarrassing viral moment Wednesday with a “Star Wars”-themed AI meme, which depicted Tucker Carlson opposite Luke Skywalker. In the meme, Carlson asks, “What is the population of the Death Star?”  

You can listen to the full episode of “Verdict with Ted Cruz” here.

The post Ted Cruz Says Tucker Carlson Pressing Him on Iran Was an ‘Irrelevant Gotcha’ Moment: ‘He Felt Very Gleeful’ | Video appeared first on TheWrap.