RIP. Dynasty's Diahann Carroll dies at 84: “Carroll died at her home in Los Angeles after a long bout with cancer, her daughter, producer-journalist Suzanne Kay, told The Hollywood Reporter.”
DOING AS TOLD. Ukraine says it is looking into Joe Biden and his son: “Ukraine's Prosecutor General said on Friday that his office is reviewing all the cases that were closed by his predecessors, including several related to the owner of a gas company where former Vice President Joe Biden's son sat on the board.”
PURR-FECT CASTING. Guess who might be the new Catwoman….
BEN SASSE. GOP Senator breaks with Trump's request that China investigate the Bidens: “Hold up: Americans don't look to Chinese commies for the truth. If the Biden kid broke laws by selling his name to Beijing, that's a matter for American courts, not communist tyrants running torture camps.”
BUT HE DID. Trump raised Biden with Xi, stored talk on secure server: “During a phone call with Xi on June 18, Trump raised Biden's political prospects as well as those of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who by then had started rising in the polls, according to two people familiar with the discussion. In that call, Trump also told Xi he would remain quiet on Hong Kong protests as trade talks progressed.The White House record of that call was later stored in the highly secured electronic system used to house a now-infamous phone call with Ukraine's President and which helped spark a whistleblower complaint that's led Democrats to open an impeachment inquiry into Trump.”
MINNESOTA. Lawsuit filed by two videographers who want the right to refuse same-sex weddings to continue in federal district court: ‘Attorney General Keith Ellison and Human Rights Commissioner Rebecca Lucero said in an opinion piece published in Thursday's Star Tribune that Minnesota is opting not to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court because they'd probably lose due to the limited facts on record and the Supreme Court's current composition.'
STATE TV. Trump wants his own propaganda network: “CNN is a voice that really seems to be the voice out there and it's a terrible thing for our country,” Trump said, diverging from his speech on protecting Medicare for seniors at an event in The Villages, Fla. “We ought to start our own network and put some real news out there, because they are so bad for our country.”
JAMES FRANCO. Two women say they were sexually exploited by Franco's acting school: “In a lawsuit filed on Thursday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, two former students of an acting school that Mr. Franco helped create say that the now-defunct program was little more than a scheme to provide him and his male collaborators with a pool of young female performers that they could take advantage of.”
DESCOVY. FDA approves new PrEP treatment: “Descovy for PrEP provides a new HIV prevention option that matches Truvada's high efficacy with statistically significant improvements in renal and bone safety, which can be an important consideration as people at risk increasingly use PrEP for longer periods of time,” Daniel O'Day, Gilead's CEO, said in a statement.
ON THE RAG. This week on the gay magazines.
ORVILLE PECK. Outlaw spirit: “In classic country, the old saying is what? ‘Three chords and the truth,'” Peck says on a phone call ahead of a gig in Florida. “Country has a really long history of subversive points of view and diversity. I think it's a stigma that people think country's this one perspective. I don't see it that way at all.”
TURNING BACK TIME. Sean Hayes spots “Cher” in Ellen's audience.
CELINE DION. On “Camp” and the Met Gala: “I thought I was going to go with my sleeping bag. What is camp? I still don't understand it. But I won.”
TAYLOR SWIFT. And the headless banana.
GEORGIA. Transgender officer sues Houston County over healthcare discrimination: “Houston County sheriff's Sgt. Anna Lange, a transgender woman who is seeking a gender transition, on Wednesday filed a federal discrimination lawsuit against the county and its board of commissioners claiming she is being ‘denied medically-necessary care' under the county's health insurance plan.”
TRAILER OF THE DAY. Richard Jewell.
NEW TUNES OF THE DAY. Maren Morris and Hozier “The Bones”.
Dan + Shay, Justin Bieber “10,000 Hours”.
Niall Horan “Nice To Meet Ya”.
FRIDAY FLASH. Matt Law.
