Free Republic

Stephen King appeared to backtrack on his recent comments about "never" considering "diversity in matters of art" after criticism from a number of prominent artists, including Ava DuVernay. "The Shining" writer on Tuesday weighed in on the controversy that ensued after the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nominated a nearly all-white slate for acting Oscars. "For me, the diversity issue did not come up," King, who is a voting member of the Academy, wrote on Twitter of his nominations for the best picture, best adapted screenplay and best original screenplay categories. "That said, I would never consider diversity...

Roger Waters tells Richard Branson to ‘back off’ over Venezuela in bizarre dispute over benefit concert Pink Floyd rocker Roger Waters has warned Richard Branson to “back off” over efforts to raise money for humanitarian aid in Venezuela with a Live Aid-style concert, telling the entrepreneur that it has “nothing to do with their needs.” Waters’ pointed criticism at his countryman comes as Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, says he is hoping to raise $100 million on Friday for people suffering in the South American country, which is currently undergoing a leadership and economic crisis with the regime of...

Lindsay Lohan has been fired from Inferno, the Linda Lovelace biopic, following her numerous stints in rehab, legal troubles, and generally unreliable behavior. Writer-director Matthew Wilder has been shockingly supportive up to this point, waiting patiently while the 24-year-old former actress’ countless attempts to overcome her addictions to drugs and alcohol. A cynical person might think Wilder was using her for the free publicity, since the movie’s title made an appearance in almost every story about Lohan’s personal decline and disappearing career.

NEW YORK - Even as he scheduled an on-air meeting with radio host Don Imus, the Rev. Al Sharpton said he still wants Imus fired for his racially charged comments about the Rutgers University women's basketball team. Sharpton said Sunday he intends to complain to the Federal Communications Commission about the matter. "Somewhere we must draw the line in what is tolerable in mainstream media," he said. "We cannot keep going through offending us and then apologizing and then acting like it never happened. Somewhere we've got to stop this." Sharpton and MSNBC announced that Imus would appear Monday on...

While no official lawsuit has been filed, Ted has stopped his pledge drive to raise money for this libel/slander suit against Ann Coulter saying that he now has enough. The proposed libel/slander suit is the result of comments she made that Ted had entered the Iranian Holocaust Cartoon contest - a claim he denies. He’s now meeting with lawyers on the details of such a suit. "Thanks to hundreds of generous pledgers we now have enough money committed to launching a slander and libel suit against Coulter for her remarks falsely claiming that I had entered Iran’s Holocaust cartoon contest."