‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ opening weekend… Doja Cat partners with Airbnb… Headline at Coachella… Liam Payne thrown against a wall… and Diddy’s mother releases a statement

 

Joker wasn’t supposed to have a sequel. But after becoming the highest earning R-rated movie in history — until Deadpool & Wolverine came along — and earning Joaquin Phoenix an Oscar, how could they not take a shot at another one? Unfortunately, this was a gamble that’s not paying off. Here at home, Joker: Folie à Deux was projected to open somewhere between $50M-$65M. Instead, it took in $40M, which was still enough for a first-place finish. Globally, it earned $121.1M. Sources say this movie needs to generate at least $450M to break even, so it’s got a long way to go. Word of mouth won’t help. So far, Folie à Deux has only a 33% positive Critics’ score on RottenTomatoes.com, and an audience CinemaScore of D. Coming in second this weekend was the new movie The Wild Robot with $18.7M, followed by Beetlejuice Beetlejuice with $10.3M.

Airbnb is offering Icon experiences, and next up — Fifteen lucky fans will get to attend the Living Room Session with Doja Cat. If you are one of the lucky 15, you get to enjoy a listening session with Doja, as well as hear her perform some of her hits. Hopefully, you’re free on October 26 because it’s a once-in-a-lifetime event. Bookings open October 8. In other Airbnb, news, the infamous house from Poltergeist, which is located in Simi Valley, California, just sold on Friday for $1.28M. The new owner is an investor who plans on turning the home into an Airbnb, and each room will have furniture and decor that make it look just like it did in the 1982 film.

Music news — Coachella 2025 is set for the weekends of April 11-13 and April 18-20, but we won’t know the lineup until January. We do, however, know a couple of artists who won’t be performing. Bloomberg says both Kendrick Lamar and Rihanna have politely declined. Kendrick headlined in 2017, but he’s solely focused on the Super Bowl Halftime Show in February right now. Rihanna has never headlined Coachella, but she did perform there in 2012 and 2016. One artist you may see at Coachella is Gracie Abrams, if her voice holds up. Gracie posted on her Instagram Story yesterday that she was “devastated and crushed” to cancel last night’s sold-out show at Radio City Music Hall. But under a doctor’s orders, she wasn’t allowed to perform due to vocal injury.

A couple years ago, Liam Payne was a guest on Logan Paul’s Impaulsive podcast, and it ended up being a PR nightmare. Among MANY things, Liam talked about the time he almost came to blows with another guy in One Direction. Without naming names, Liam said, “There was an argument backstage and one member, in particular, threw me up a wall. So I said to him, ‘If you don’t remove those hands, there’s a high likelihood you’ll never use them again.’” Of course we all assumed it was Zayn Malik. Around the same time of this podcast, Liam ended his engagement other Maya Henry, daughter of personal injury lawyer/billionaire Thomas J. Henry. In a TikTok post, Maya duetted with a fan who brought up the fight, saying, “I see this all the time, everywhere, I’ve heard this insufferable story so many times. He told me it was Zayn, so…”

At least Diddy’s mom has his back. Through her attorney, Janice Combs released a statement saying, “It is heartbreaking to see my son judged not for the truth, but for a narrative created out of lies. To bear witness what seems to be like a public lynching of my son before he has had the opportunity to prove his innocence is a pain too unbearable to put into words. Like every human being, my son deserves to have his day in court, to finally share his side, and to prove his innocence.” Janice went on to say her son isn’t perfect, particularly when he lied about being violent with his ex-girlfriend Cassie. However, she said, “Sometimes, the truth and a lie become so closely intertwined that it becomes terrifying to admit one part of the story, especially when that truth is outside the norm or is too complicated to be believed.” Janice said she believes that’s why Diddy’s lawyers encouraged him to settle Cassie’s civil lawsuit, only to have it backfire on them, causing the federal government to go after him. But, Janice said, “Not being entirely straightforward about one issue does not mean my son is guilty of the repulsive allegations and the grave charges leveled against him…. I ask his supporters, fans, colleagues, friends, and the public, to not judge him before you’ve had the chance to hear his side. I beg you to think about those who have been wrongfully persecuted, to remember that not everyone who has made mistakes in life deserves to have their entire existence judged by a single action or a few mistakes. My son is not the monster they have painted him to be, and he deserves the chance to tell his side. I can only pray that I am alive to see him speak his truth and be vindicated.”

Meantime, attorney Alex Spiro — who successfully represented Alec Baldwin — told CourtTV that he’s been hired to look into whether Diddy had anything to do with the murder of Tupac Shakur.

 

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