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Today’s Ankler Hot Seat podcast is hosted by Janice Min, Richard Rushfield and Tatiana Siegel, and welcomes guest Meg James, a Los Angeles Times reporter. James co-wrote an explosive and heartbreaking story – Bruce Willis' aphasia was suspected by coworkers for years – with colleague Amy Kaufman about how Willis’ cognitive function became problematic and noticeable on movie sets over the last 3.5 years, during which time he made a staggering 22 films.
James discusses how the actor, worked for only two days on each movie yet made a staggering $2 million on each. However, he carried on this pace while requiring an earpiece for his lines, and was part of a frightening incident involving a gun and a blank.
“It just was chilling to hear that there were episodes that with less experienced and less professional people could have really been problematic and potentially dangerous,” says James. “There was a film that was shot two years ago in Cincinnati called Hard Kill. And Bruce was this father figure. And there was a reality television star, Lala Kent, who was cast as his daughter. And she told us in an on-the-record interview that…he had a line that he was supposed to deliver. And when he delivered the line, she was supposed to duck and then he would fire the gun. But his coordination didn't come off right and he didn't deliver the line. Instead, he fired the weapon.” James said the very same mistake happened on the subsequent take.
The veteran Hollywood chronicler also explained the conversations inside the Los Angeles Times about tackling the difficult subject of an actor’s health and how the story came together.
In other subjects, the hosts discuss new details about Slapgate:
Rushfield reports that audience members were openly booing Will Smith during his acceptance speech, but that it wasn’t audible during the broadcast. He asks, “Did the Academy sweeten the soundtrack to drown it out?”
Paging Zapruder: the hosts discuss the missing seven seconds of footage that would show what happened when the cameras were on Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith; Siegel discusses the footage taken by an audience member showing Pinkett Smith’s reaction from behind.
Rushfield criticizes Vanity Fair, where he had previously served as a contributing editor, for warmly hosting Will Smith at its Oscar afterparty: “You can sort of explain the Academy panic at the moment. They weren't prepared for this. Vanity Fair had [more than] two hours before he got there and they knew he was coming…so there was no last-minute panic there. They had all the time to think this through and they said, ‘Wouldn't that be great if all the eyes are on Will Smith? Wouldn't that be great if he came and danced at our party?'“
Rushfield refers to internet chatter that the strange on-screen banner coming on-screen during Smith’s acceptance speech was to block a Serena Williams’ wardrobe malfunction.
And finally, the podcast wraps with a discussion of the curious $108 million options bet on Activision stock made by Barry Diller and David Geffen that has now spawned an investigation by the Justice Department and SEC looking into the possibility of insider trading.
Please just us next week for more episodes of Ankler Hot Seat, and remember to follow us (and like us!) at Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
New on The Ankler:
ESG on The First Hard Lessons of 2022 so far and the final numbers on Disney+’s Hamilton.
The latest on ABC’s efforts to get to the bottom of the Grey’s Anatomy writer scandal.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Will Smith Did a Bad Bad Thing
As Time Passes, The Slap Still Stings: Richard Rushfield’s thoughts as concerns deepen and Hollywood sends all the wrong messages as outlined in.The Show, The Slap and the Big Shrug.
It is going to HBO, and someone offered Matt and Ben a nine-figure fund!
FOR GROUP SUBSCRIPTIONS: email Kymber Allen at kymber@anklermedia.com
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