los angeles

MYLEENE Klass looked incredible as she showed off her glamorous Los Angele photo shoot.

The Classic FM host, 48, flaunted her rock hard abs in a sexy red bikini in a behind he scenes look at the campaign shoot for her brand partnership with sneaker brand Skechers.

Myleene posed poolside in the red bikini and unbuttoned denim shorts as she rocked a baseball cap with large headphones over the top.

Other photos in her Instagram post included posing outside Skechers’ head office in black shorts and matching hoodie, pretending to play a large outdoor guitar statue, and hanging out with the Skechers photoshoot crew.

Myleene also showed off her business class seat on the flight as she wore a glass effect skin mask.

The I’m A Celeb star looked chic in a skintight black mini-dress which she wore to pose by a different pool while wearing a Skechers branded baseball cap.

Myleene’s fans loved the glimpse into what it takes to create a campaign shoot and shared their thoughts in the comments.

“Vibes you look absolutely incredible love your style have a positive weekend ahead,” wrote one person.

Another added: “Stunning.”

And a third wrote: “Gorgeous Myleene.”

Last month, Myleene looked incredible at  The Dog Stars premiere alongside her two lookalike daughters. 

They cuddled up to their famous mum on the carpet and were seen smiling for the cameras.

Myleene shares the girls with her ex-husband Graham Quinn, whom she split from back in 2012.

The 48-year-old later went on to have son Apollo, three, with her now fiancée Simon Motson.

“American Idol” is packing up its stars after 25 years in Hollywood.

In the latest blow to Los Angeles film production, ABC’s long-running program will move its upcoming season to the Atlanta area, according to Fremantle, which produces the show with 19 Entertainment, owned by Sony Pictures Television.

Fremantle declined to comment further.

The move comes as Los Angeles’ production levels have tumbled, prompting concern from film workers, union leaders and elected officials who are scrambling to address the crisis. California, despite boosting its tax incentive program, has been struggling to compete against other states that offer more lucrative credits.

TV production activity in the L.A. region was down 27% in the second quarter compared with the same period a year ago, largely because of fewer reality TV shoots, according to the nonprofit FilmLA.

Earlier this year, another broadcast TV stalwart, Fox’s “The Masked Singer,” made plans to vacate its space on the Fox lot on West Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles and head to New Jersey, also in search of more lucrative tax credits. Another ABC hit, “Shark Tank,” also is relocating to Atlanta from its longtime home base on Sony’s Culver City lot.

“American Idol” has been a local economic engine since launching on Fox in 2002. For years, the show ranked as the No. 1 show on TV and employed hundreds of workers each season as aspiring singers hoped for their big break.

The most recent season originated from Red Studios in Hollywood.

Georgia offers generous tax incentives, including up to a 30% tax credit for reality television productions that spend at least $500,000 in the state. Unlike California, Georgia’s tax program allows compensation for actors and other so-called above-the-line workers to be included.

Like California, Georgia has been grappling with lower production levels. For more than a decade, its soundstages attracted colossal movie productions, but the region was dealt a blow when the Walt Disney Co. recently shifted production of its Marvel superhero films to facilities near London.

On Tuesday, a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers, the Motion Picture Assn., industry unions, Hollywood special ambassador Jon Voight and filmmaker Steven Paul made a pitch for a federal film and television tax credit to keep jobs in Hollywood and in the U.S. broadly.

Rep. Laura Friedman (D-Glendale) plans to introduce a bill into Congress as early as this month in collaboration with Rep. Brian Jack (R-Ga.), who represents a district southwest of Atlanta. The MPA released a study estimating a federal tax credit could add 143,000 film and TV jobs.

This year, in particular, has seen big swings as the California Film and TV Tax Credit Program expanded eligibility to include competition shows.

Large-scale competition shows are eligible under the state’s incentive program if they have a minimum budget of $1 million per episode. The credit, however, does not include traditional reality shows, game shows, talk shows or docu-follow television programs.

Changes in California’s formula resulted in a jump to 676 shoot days in the second quarter, compared with 463 shoot days during the first three months of the year. Nonetheless, this year’s April-June quarter still reflected an almost 40% decline when compared with the same time last year.

FilmLA said that over the last five years, reality productions have plummeted nearly 63%.

ABC in late July announced “American Idol” was returning, marking its 10th season on the Walt Disney Co. network. Producers are auditioning potential contestants this week during stops in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

ABC declined to comment on the move.

Ryan Seacrest has long hosted the show, which last season featured Lionel Richie, Luke Bryan and Carrie Underwood, a previous “American Idol” champion, as the celebrity judges.

Deadline first reported the planned move to Georgia.

Game shows are also leaving L.A.

A growing number of programs long based around Hollywood and New York have headed across the ocean to Ireland and Britain to take advantage of tax credits that bring down the cost of production as broadcast network executives contend with shrinking audiences and lower profit margins.

Fox currently has several prime-time game shows produced overseas, including “The Floor,” “Celebrity Name That Tune” and “Beat Shazam.

Staff writer Stephen Battaglio contributed to this report.

MEGAN Stalter has shocked the Emmys red carpet, transforming into a literal golden statue for the 78th awards ceremony.

The Hacks star turned heads in a gold bikini and matching body paint for the night’s boldest look.

In true eccentric style, Stalter covered herself head-to-toe in gold, complete with angel wings and a golden orb.

Stalter arrived with her Hacks co-star and bestie Paul W. Downs, who wore a sharp black tux.

The 35-year-old is up for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy for playing Kayla Schaefer in the fifth and final season of HBO Max’s Hacks.

It is her first Emmy nomination.

Kayla, the over privileged and clueless assistant on the HBO’s hit series, was her first acting job.

Stalter is no stranger to outlandish red carpet attires.

In January she attended the Critics Choice awards with her co-star, mimicking Kylie Jenner’s all-orange look which she had worn with boyfriend Timothy Chalamet to the Marty Supreme premiere.

At last year’s Emmys, the actress opted for a simple pair of jeans and a T-shirt – in a deliberate non-statement.

In 2025 at the Las Culturistas Culture Awards, she wore a corset-style top made from actual Diet Coke packaging.

In April, the actress told Marie Claire: “Every red carpet appearance or anything that I get to do in front of people, I want to have fun and make the most of it because it’s my dream.

“We worked really hard to get here, and now I want to enjoy it.”

Stalter is up against her castmate Hannah Einbinder, who won the category last year, plus Janelle James for Abbott Elementary, Michelle Pfeiffer for Margo’s Got Money Trouble and Jessica Williams for Shrinking.

One amused commenter reacted to her look and said: “If they don’t give her the statue, she IS the statue.”

Hacks recently wrapped its fifth and final season which is up for 24 Emmy nominations at this year’s ceremony.

It is the second most nominated show this year, just trailing one award behind The Pitt.

This years Primetime Emmy Awards are being held at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.

It will air on NBC and Peacock and is hosted by Mariska Hargitay.

Paramount Skydance Chief Executive David Ellison faces a pivotal decision: Should he uproot his Hollywood studio — the birthplace of such film classics as “Sunset Boulevard,” “The Godfather” and “Beverly Hills Cop”?

Paramount floated shifting its home base to Tennessee or Texas in July, hoping to deter California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta from waging a legal battle to block Paramount’s $111-billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.

Bonta rejected the tactic, calling it “blackmail.” His antitrust lawsuit, filed in collaboration with 11 other Democratic state attorneys general, has since stalled the largest Hollywood merger in decades and put Ellison in a jam.

The 43-year-old tech scion — a film aficionado who has spent two decades building his career in Hollywood — has told associates he doesn’t want to leave L.A. But he has signaled that he’s prepared to sell the historic studio lots and move Paramount’s and Warner Bros.’ operations from California if the merger isn’t finalized by next month, according to people familiar with the situation who were not authorized to comment.

The prospect has rattled a region already reeling from steep declines in film production, heavy job losses, empty soundstages and shuttered small businesses.

“It would be devastating,” Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur, who represents a district that includes the Melrose Avenue movie lot and neighborhoods near Warner Bros. in Burbank, said of a Paramount move. “We need to do everything we can to protect these important jobs in California’s iconic industry.”

Paramount declined to comment.

Ellison is frustrated after securing approvals from more than 65 regulators worldwide for the mammoth merger that would bring HBO, CNN, CBS, Comedy Central, MTV and TBS under the same roof.

Bonta’s lawsuit stands in the way.

“California is the fourth-largest economy in the world and the best place to do business,” a spokesman from Bonta’s office said. “Strong antitrust enforcement is essential so everyone can benefit from a vibrant economy.”

A federal judge in Oakland temporarily blocked the deal, prompting Paramount to agree not to finalize the acquisition until after a trial or June 1, whichever comes first. Settlement talks collapsed in late August after Bonta accused Paramount of leaking and misrepresenting their discussions.

Paramount has plenty at stake. U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín set the trial for March, but the company urgently needs the valuable Warner assets to better compete against tech behemoths. And beginning Oct. 1, Paramount must increase its payout to Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders by $7 million a day, so-called ticking fees that will heap more debt onto the highly leveraged transaction.

Paramount asked the judge to require California and other plaintiff states, including Nevada, Oregon and New York, along with the Writers Guild of America (which also sued) to post a $1.88-billion bond that could compensate Paramount for ticking fee costs. A hearing is set for Sept. 24.

For weeks, Paramount’s most potent weapon has been its in-the-works plan to leave L.A.

Lobbying has been intense, prompting a parade of politicians led by Gov. Gavin Newsom, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and gubernatorial nominee Xavier Becerra to urge the two sides to settle the lawsuit.

“It’s a game of chicken,” Kevin Klowden, an economist and managing director at the Melcene Advisory firm, said in an interview. “But I’m not dismissing the threat because it is very real.”

Relocating from Los Angeles would allow Ellison’s cash-hungry media company to qualify for lucrative tax incentives offered by another state. Ellison’s short list includes Tennessee, Texas and Georgia. But leaving its longtime home would be costly for Paramount too, given how much of the talent and deal-making remains concentrated around L.A.

Tennessee’s Department of Economic and Community Development declined to discuss its negotiations with Paramount, but in a statement a spokesperson said the state “remains committed to working with companies across a wide range of industries that are exploring opportunities to invest and grow in Tennessee.”

Early this month, a pro-merger group was set to hold a news conference outside Paramount, but it moved its gathering to a warehouse a few blocks away after anti-merger activists planned a counterprotest.

The pro-merger organization, Neighbors for Strong Communities, was incorporated in Washington, D.C., in June and has lobbed text messages to Californians urging them to press Bonta to drop the case.

Speakers were concerned with just one issue: What would happen should Paramount pull out?

“What are we going to do with all these people who have invested their lives and many generations into building something here?” asked Keyla Wood, who moved from Mexico to L.A. about a decade ago after getting her start in Spanish-language soap operas.

“It’s been one thing after the other: The pandemic, the strikes and then it was the fires,” said Wood, who has worked as a stand-in for Eva Longoria and Salma Hayek. “So many people never work again.”

L.A.’s very identity is at stake, added Daniela Kelly, an actor and dancer who arrived from Brazil two decades ago.

“Everyone in the world sees Los Angeles and Hollywood as the platform for their dreams,” Kelly said. “Imagine if a huge studio with 100 years of history here just leaves? What will we be?”

Businesses like Kelly’s small Kreashen Studios USA, which provides video and podcasting space in Marina del Rey, depends on the region’s entertainment economy.

“It’s difficult financially right now to keep open,” she said. “So I’m pro having Paramount stay because this is the center, the heart of Hollywood.”

But deal opponents and some experts say the merger would actually worsen L.A.’s already bleak production picture.

Paramount has promised to cut $6 billion in expenses — a figure that doesn’t factor in the cost of ticking fees, which would add $650 million each quarter to the $81 billion that Paramount had anticipated paying Warner shareholders.

“We’ve seen from previous mergers that jobs have been lost,” L.A. City Councilmember Adrin Nazarian said at a City Hall event recently.

Combining Paramount and Warner could result in the elimination of nearly 4,500 positions over three years and put at risk an additional 5,865 jobs within businesses that serve the studios, according to an August report by the Los Angeles County Department of Economic Opportunity.

“When you look at the economic impact, it’s pretty staggering,” Kelly LoBianco, the department director, said in a recent interview. “An estimated $4 billion in economic output lost, and another $550 million lost in tax revenue at the local, state and federal level.”

The merger also could erase $79 million in tax revenue to Los Angeles County even if Paramount stays in L.A., she said.

But state and county tax revenue would plummet further should Paramount dispatch hundreds of its workers to Tennessee or some other state, Klowden said.

“If Ellison moves all the management out and all of the productions out, you’re talking about potentially tens of thousands of jobs,” Klowden said. “That, bluntly, isn’t just devastating to L.A. That becomes devastating to everybody.”

A report commissioned by Paramount from Los Angeles Economic Development Corp. predicted even steeper losses of at least 28,000 jobs should the studio move its entire operation out of state, according to a draft report given to Politico.

Under a less dire scenario, Paramount could shift its corporate headquarters to another state to qualify for incentives but still maintain large staffs in the creative hubs of Los Angeles and New York, where the company has its legal headquarters.

When the Ellison family acquired Paramount from the Sumner Redstone family last year, Ellison shifted operations to L.A., where he and other key executives work on the Melrose Avenue lot.

The threat to pull up stakes has created a disconnect after Ellison has spent more than a year touting how his family’s growing collection of media properties would strengthen traditional Hollywood.

The relocation campaign echoes a tactic used by software giant Oracle Corp., co-founded by Ellison’s billionaire father, Larry Ellison. For three decades, Oracle thrived in Redwood City, Calif., but in 2020, the company moved its headquarters to Austin, Texas, joining other California tech firms leaving in protest of the state’s high taxes.

The elder Ellison announced in 2024 that Oracle would be moving again, this time to Nashville, although that relocation hasn’t been finalized.

Paramount would risk leaving behind a skilled talent pool filled with experienced production workers and entertainment executives, Klowden said.

Fleeing L.A. could prompt “a talent bleed-out,” Klowden said. “Creative types are like: ‘Would I feel comfortable moving there?’ And, ‘What if I move there and something goes wrong? There would be nowhere else for me to go.’”

He pointed to Nissan’s 2006 U.S. headquarters move to the Nashville area from Gardena in L.A.’s South Bay, which dramatically reset the automaker’s workforce as fewer than half of its Southern California employees made the trek to Tennessee.

On Friday, a magistrate judge told both sides to identify dates in late October to meet for court-ordered settlement talks.

Each has motivations to settle — including avoiding a years-long court fight. Bonta has said Paramount must be willing to part with assets to alleviate market concentration, which could lead to a sale of Warner’s New Line Cinema, which has rights to “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Conjuring” franchises, and potentially cable channels such as CNN, Food Network or Cartoon Network.

Paramount, as part of a settlement, could abandon plans to leave L.A.

“All of the parties need to understand what this [issue] means to workers and small businesses,” Zbur, the local Assembly member, said. “I’m hopeful for a settlement that assures that Paramount and Warner Bros. will maintain their operations and remain a significant economic and employment force in Los Angeles.”

Times staff writer Cerys Davies contributed to this report.

AFTER more than a decade, a huge new museum which is more like the ultimate attraction for Star Wars and Indiana Jones fans is set to open.

The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, created by filmmaker George Lucas, is set to open on September 22 in Los Angeles, America.

Inside the new 28,000sqm museum, visitors will be able to explore items that Lucas has collected over the past five decades, including art, costumes, movie props and memorabilia.

In fact, the museum will be home to more than 1,300 objects in 30 galleries across five floors.

Of course, there will be plenty for Star Wars fans in the museum including sculptures of Yoda and Grogu as well as vehicles from the films.

Visitors can head to two cinematic theatres as well.

Away from Lucas’ own creations, there will be art by Frida Kahlo as well as rare comics by Frank Miller and Cowboy Bebop anime.

There are some early sketches by Van Gogh and Picasso too

And Banksy has contributed artwork to the museum as well.

Visitors will also be able to catch an insight into Lucas’ early life too, with his student films on show.

The museum itself also looks like a spaceship, with curved white walls.

Outside the museum, there are large green open spaces, with more than 200 trees and a waterfall-like fountain.

If you get hungry, there’s the Skywalker Grill as well, offering all-day dining including seafood, grilled dishes, pasta and desserts.

The restaurant also has an outdoor terrace.

The museum will be open from 10am to 5pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, 10am to 9pm on Fridays, 9am to 9pm on Saturdays, 9am to 5pm on Sundays and is closed on Tuesdays.

Adult tickets cost $25 (£18.50) per person and children’s tickets (up to 17-years-old) are free.

As a proud Atlantan, I’ve loved lemon pepper wings my entire life. Zesty and crispy-skinned, they were present every Super Bowl Sunday and Labor Day weekend. When my family of four wanted takeout, it was the one item we could all agree on to order.

I learned to like lemon pepper wings as an alternative to buffalo wings, which were way too spicy for me as a child. My taste buds eventually learned to handle the heat, but there’s still something in me that prefers a dry rub lemon pepper wing over anything else.

Lemon pepper wings are widely believed to be the invention of J.R. Crickets, an Atlanta-based wing chain that has now expanded to several locations throughout Georgia since opening in 1982. The classic recipe involves wings covered in a blend of lemon zest, pepper and butter, but the regional restaurant is also known for a flavor that’s not explicitly on the menu — “lemon pepper wet.” Sparking curiosity worldwide after being featured on the Emmy award-winning TV series “Atlanta” in 2017, these wings are first covered in buffalo sauce before sprinkling the lemon pepper seasoning on top.

“Lemon pepper wet” can also refer to wings that are covered in a lemon pepper sauce, in addition to the usual dry rub. American Deli, a fast-food chain that opened in Atlanta in 1989, claims to be the inventor of this flavor.

Today, the preference for lemon pepper wings has spread beyond the South. Atlanta-born rappers Future and Gucci Mane have rapped about the dish in their songs. Memes and TikToks about the famous lemon pepper wet wings from Atlanta’s Magic City, an adult entertainment club, have gone viral on social media and some restaurants are even adding the flavor to cocktails.

When I moved to Los Angeles this summer, I began searching for spots that served wings that reminded me of home. Chef Melissa Cottingham, founder of Melnificent Wingz, went through a similar journey. She’s been selling wings in L.A. since 2021, but has been cooking since her childhood in Memphis, Tenn.

“I couldn’t find any wings that reminded me of that Southern brine, [with] wet, buttery citrus sauce as well as a spice blend,” she said. “So I was like, I’m gonna create it myself.”

She sells many flavors of wings, but says lemon pepper is by far her most popular.

From panko-fried chicken legs in the heart of Koreatown, to wing platters served alongside Cajun-style rice and gravy, restaurants across L.A. have added their own spin to the dish that helped put Atlanta’s food scene on the map.

School may be back in session, but summer temperatures are still holding strong in Los Angeles. Beat the heat with silken shaved ice and frozen cocktails from some of L.A.’s best bars, or remind yourself why living in one of the world’s best food cities is worth the occasional furnace-like weather by eating your way through critic-approved breakfast burritos and classic hot dog stands. Watching your wallet? Order a discounted burger and drink combo during happy hour.

Record-breaking temperatures have impacted our local food supply, so make it a priority to visit your local farmers market to snag the last ripe mangoes and other summer fruit. If you’re looking for recipe ideas, try cooking editor Cody Reiss’ easily customizable chaotic fruit salad, and use the leftovers for a refreshing summer spritz.

September also marks the beginning of spooky season, with local theme park Universal Studios Hollywood launching its annual Halloween Horror Nights with a new slate of haunted houses and food vendors inspired by recent horror blockbusters, TV shows and games. One of the region’s scariest Halloween events kicks off on Sept. 3.

Keep reading for even more dining ideas this month, including the relaunch of a Koreatown pocha with a new menu, a new neighborhood destination in Pacific Palisades and a Friday fish fry in West Adams.

Imagine Def Comedy Jam hosted inside a speakeasy of an iconic music venue — that’s “Right After You Left,” a new summertime event thrown by seasoned comedy bookers Chris Burns, Sarah Mello and Sean Dickerson. Folks driving to the Palladium may have noticed that in addition to the line around the block to see a popular music act, there’s also one at the side door of the Vinyl Room, the new music hall’s lounge that opened its doors in March. That’s where this comedy night takes place.

The glowing bar is decorated like a DJ lives there with shelves of classic records, ghetto blasters, plush couches, upscale food and craft cocktails. It feels like seeing a comedy show in the living room of a friend with taste. Comics who’ve come to the stage include Donnell Rawlings, Iliza Shlesinger, Morgan Jay, Josh Johnson and Kam Patterson. Unlike most club shows that are quick to kick you out, the promoters encourage people to hang out for what feels like an after-party worth sticking around for. Though the show is seasonal and runs until Sept. 22, the promoters plan to come back in December.

When: 8 p.m. Tuesdays
Tickets: Varies

DANNY Cipriani and AnnaLynne McCord’s bid to crowdfund their wedding failed after friends refused to pay for booze at the reception.

The couple tied the knot on Saturday in Los Angeles in what was described as an “elegant bohemian” ceremony in their back garden.

However, just weeks before they were set to marry, they raised eyebrows when they asked their guests to help them pay for their wedding.

They used US site Honeyfund — a platform specifically designed to help couples pay for things like flowers, catering, music and a cake.

The couple asked for cash donations between £75 ($100) and £450 ($600) to go towards their wedding and honeymoon.

However, the website, which is open to the public to view, still has remaining slots that were not contributed to.

Among the remaining asks are eight £440 ($600) slots for the wedding venue construction, five remaining slots for reception beverages at £146 ($200) and seven remaining slots for the reception catering at £183 ($250).

Adding to this are five unpaid slots for the wedding photography at £220 ($300) and two remaining slots for the rehearsal dinner at £366 ($500).

Guests did in fact fork out £73 for their marriage licence, £91 for the music at their reception, £440 for the wedding cake and £440 for the floral arrangements.

After their crowdfunding idea was released, the pair were said to have received death threats.

Speaking from a hotel in Hollywood, AnnaLynne told The Sun: “I was told I was despicable — and that I was trying to extort money from my wedding guests.

“People actually donated ten dollars towards the wedding so they could write on the site that Danny and I were disgusting.

“There were even death threats.”

The 90210 actress, 39, stunned a see-through white lace dress and a veil embroidered with flowers on the big day over the weekend.

Meanwhile, rugby ace Danny, 38, looked dapper in all black suit.

Their wedding came 10 years after they first met on dating app Raya which kickstarted a four-year on/off relationship.

They then rekindled things in 2024 after Danny split from his wife Victoria Rose.

Incidentally, it was Danny calling AnnaLynne in 2020 to tell her that he’d got Victoria pregnant that led to their initial time together ending. The following year he married the neuroscience practitioner.

When Danny’s split from Victoria made headlines, AnnaLynne decided to make her feelings known and reached back out to him.

She told us: “He told me he loved me since the day he met me.”

Danny proved his love on Christmas Day when he dropped to one knee in front of the tree in AnnaLynne’s home.