Sundance

Pro-Palestine protesters shut down a street near the Sundance Film Festival on Sunday afternoon ... and a couple famous faces joined their numbers.

About 100 protesters reportedly showed up on Park City's Main Street for a protest organized by "Let Gaza Live" ... with police in the small Utah town shutting down the block to traffic.

Among those protesting ... former 'Scream' star Melissa Barrera -- who was fired for her comments on the war between Israel and Hamas -- and model/actor Indya Moore.

MB kept a low profile with her hood on and sunglasses covering her eyes while IM was more front and center ... at one point using a megaphone at the rally.

BTW, Barrera's been talking a lot about her firing recently ... telling the Associated Press Friday night that getting laid off from the popular franchise was a "big awakening" for her adding she's "grateful" for everything that's happened.

The protest was pretty peaceful all morning ... with videos populating social media of passionate protesters -- though their chants stirred up some controversy.

Some of the protesters used the phrase "From the river to the sea" which is a point of contention between Israel supporters and Palestine supporters ... they're also going right after President Biden calling him "Genocide Joe" and repurposing an old condemnation of Lyndon B. Johnson -- asking him how many kids he's "killed today."

Protesters in support of Israel were also on the streets in Park City ... seemingly mounting a counter-protest and chanting "Bring them home" in reference to hostages taken by Hamas during the tragic October 7 attack.

It should be noted that the protest was not affiliated with Sundance, instead just running near it ... a move other political protesters have used in the past to capitalize on media attention. Thousands of protesters gathered back in 2017 to protest then-newly inaugurated President Trump.

Pauly Shore's Richard Simmons short dropped last night ... and Simmons stans will recognize the moment it's based on -- plus get an idea of what the feature film's gonna be like.

PS premiered "The Court Jester" at Sundance, and he went full Simmons for the role -- he looks a ton like him with the hair, tank top and thigh-high shorts ... and on top of that, Shore picked a viral moment from Richard's life. While the screening took place during the festival it was not an official Sundance selection.

The short -- not the full-scale biopic he's making -- opens with a production assistant backstage of a show hosted by a woman who looks and sounds like Ellen DeGeneres ... when Richard is called onto the stage.

Pauly's Richard comes out with a ton of energy, running around in front of the audience, sweat dripping down his forehead ... a clear reenactment of Richard's appearance on "Ellen" more than a decade ago.

Check it out ... Richard jumps around so fast cameras can barely keep up, pushes the same DVD and even pretends to be a workout machine Ellen can use -- art imitating life taken to the extreme!!!

Pauly's also showing off his acting chops in the more low-key moments too -- having a heart-to-heart with the PA from the beginning of the short while chowing down on a sprinkle donut.

Shore's clearly trying to be pretty respectful of Richard ... backing him with an angelic light while he drops knowledge on the young "Ellen" crew member -- though at this point, Richard's probably not coming around to Pauly's upcoming biopic

As we reported ... Richard -- who doesn't speak publicly much anymore -- came out and blasted Pauly's movie ... basically saying he didn't give his permission or blessing to Shore's project.

When we talked to Pauly about it ... he said he's holding out hope Richard comes around, but he's going forward with the project whether he gets the fitness guru's thumbs up or not.

El corto de Pauly Shore sobre Richard Simmons se estrenó anoche, y los fans de Simmons reconocerán el momento de su vida en el que está basado y podrán también hacerse una idea de cómo será el largometraje.

Pauly Shore estrenó "The Court Jester" en Sundance, y se sumergió completamente en el papel de Simmons, con el pelo, la camiseta sin mangas y los pantalones cortos hasta los muslos, y más encima, eligió un momento viral de la vida de Richard.

El corto, que no es la película completa que está realizando, comienza con un asistente de producción entre bastidores, de un show que es presentado por una mujer que se parece a Ellen DeGeneres. Luego, Richard es llamado al escenario.

El Richard de Pauly sale con un montón de energía. Corre delante del público, con el sudor goteándole por la frente... una clara recreación de la aparición de Richard en "Ellen" hace más de una década.

Compruébalo tú mismo, Richard salta tan rápido que las cámaras apenas pueden seguirle el ritmo, empuja el mismo DVD e incluso pretende ser una máquina de ejercicios que Ellen puede usar, ¡¡¡el arte imitando la vida al extremo!!!

Pauly también está mostrando sus dotes de actuación en los momentos más discretos, como por ejemplo, cuando tiene una conversación con el asistente de producción al principio del corto, mientras se come una dona.

Shore está claramente tratando de ser muy respetuoso con Richard, aunque a estas alturas, Richard probablemente no será parte de la próxima película biográfica de Pauly.

Como hemos informado, Richard, que no habla mucho públicamente, salió a criticar la película de Pauly diciendo que no dio su permiso o bendición para el proyecto.

Cuando hablamos con Pauly al respecto dijo que tenía la esperanza de que Richard se terminara sumando, pero que va a seguir adelante con el proyecto, ya sea con el pulgar hacia arriba del gurú o no.

Koko Da Doll, one of the memorable subjects from the recent documentary "Kokomo City," is dead ... and the film's director says she was shot and killed as a result of trans violence.

D. Smith -- director of the moving, award-winning doc featured this year at Sundance -- shared the sad news Friday, saying Koko, AKA Rasheeda Williams, "was shot and killed in Atlanta" Tuesday night.

She added, Williams' death makes her "the latest victim of violence against Black transgender women," -- but says she will "inspire generations to come and will never be forgotten."

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Atlanta PD says cops responded to reports of a shooting just before 11 PM, and investigators found a woman who had been shot -- she was pronounced dead on the scene.

For those unaware, "Kokomo City" took home 2 awards at this year's Sundance Film Festival -- following Black transgender sex workers, including Williams, as they lived and worked in New York and ATL.

Williams, along with Daniella Carter, Liyah Mitchell, and Dominique Silver, accurately put a spotlight on the horrendous threats women like them face on a daily basis.

Sundance is also paying respects, saying "We were honored to have her at the Festival this year with KOKOMO CITY, where she reminded Black trans women, 'we can do anything, we can be whatever we want to be.' It is a tragic loss."

Williams was 35.

Jonathan Majors' new movie at Sundance has already gotten off to a rough start with the judges, who'll decide if it's a winner ... 'cause it couldn't accommodate Marlee Matlin.

The actress, who's deaf, is part of a 3-person jury this year that'll vote in the U.S. Dramatic Competition that's underway at the film fest in Park City, UT. However, because she couldn't make out what was happening onscreen for Majors' flick, 'Magazine Dreams,' she and the other 2 jury members walked out of the screening Friday night ... this according to Variety.

The outlet reports that a captioning device had been given to Matlin before the movie started, but it seems it was malfunctioning ... so rather than delay the screening further -- it had already been pushed back 45 minutes -- the jurors collectively walked out in protest.

Apparently, this is part of a larger issue at Sundance ... which came to a head during Majors' movie. Variety says, citing sources, that a letter had been sent to the participating filmmakers this year pertaining to closed captioning -- imploring them to submit cuts of their films that included it so hearing-impaired viewers could enjoy without hiccups like this one.

It read in part, "As a jury our ability to celebrate the work that all of you have put into making these films has been disrupted by the fact that they are not accessible to all three of us."

Variety reports some Sundance filmmakers have been hesitant to include CC -- as they supposedly feel it could make their movies harder to shop, not to mention the added costs and time that would come in including a completely different copy just for the festival.

Dakota Johnson is no fan of Armie Hammer, and made that perfectly clear when she dropped jokes about his cannibalism allegations ... and while the Sundance crowd seemed amused, she's also getting some backlash.

The actress took a few digs at Armie while presenting an award to "Call Me by Your Name" director Luca Guadagnino at the famous Park City, UT film festival.

Armie starred in the 2017 movie and Dakota joked ... "Luca had asked me to play the role of the peach, but our schedules conflicted. Thank God, because then I would have been another woman that Armie Hammer tried to eat."

In the movie, Timothee Chalamet's character performs a sex act on a peach, which Armie's character later discovers.

Dakota wasn't done there, she also told the crowd, "It's been 5 years since that film premiered here, and Luca hasn't stopped taking us to exciting places. Who knew cannibalism was so popular?"

Luca's latest film, "Bones and All," stars Timothee and it's about cannibalism ... and Armie's infamously been dogged by allegations he gets off on cannibalistic fetishes, which he vehemently denies.

Also relevant, is the fact LAPD has investigated some of those allegations for more than 2 years now, and Hammer has not been charged with a single crime. Dakota's getting online backlash from people who support Armie, and also from those who believe his accusers. The criticism is she was unfair to him, legally speaking ... or insensitive to the women.

A classic lose-lose.

Hollywood execs and celebs who were planning to attend this year's Sundance Film Festival are in for a rude awakening ... because the event was canceled just days beforehand and now they stand to lose a boatload of cash.

This year's Sundance was scheduled for Jan 20-30 as a hybrid event with both in-person and online events ... it was expected to bring out filmgoers from around the U.S., volunteers and, of course, celebs and Hollywood honchos.

Well, that was until the festival was canceled only 15 days before the curtain was raised, due to the explosion of COVID. We're told hotels and Airbnb jacked up the prices like crazy -- $3k and up for some rooms and suites -- and now we're told a lot of them are not giving refunds.

Likewise ... Sundance organizers are not offering refunds to folks who paid to attend in person. Instead, attendees can either gift their packages to someone else or turn the money spent into a tax-deductible donation to the Sundance Institute.

Back to the hotels ... one example is Auberge Resorts Collection, which was charging $3,798 per night for some of the suites ... and guess what, it's non-refundable. The hotel is telling guests to come anyway and enjoy the skiing, or just reschedule.

When COVID strikes this way, a lot depends on what's in the contract.  If there's an "Act of God" clause, although it's not clear there have been successful arguments that money should be returned.

Taylor Swift's army of fans have great timing -- putting on an incredible display of support for her just as she was going public about battling an eating disorder.

We got Taylor and an absolute WALL of Swiftees Thursday night in Park City, UT ... where her "Miss Americana" documentary premiered. We're used to seeing her fans show out in force, but you gotta see this ... 'cause they outdid themselves for the Sundance Film Festival event -- and Taylor took selfies with scores of them.

T-Swift was smiling and clearly overjoyed -- moments before going into the theater, where fans got to see her open up for the first time about starving herself while she was on the road. In the Netflix documentary, she says seeing herself in paparazzi photos "where I looked like my tummy was too big, or someone said that I looked pregnant" triggered her to stop eating.

She says the lack of eating started to affect her live performances -- but adds she now understands she's gotta have food to have the energy to get through her shows.

As we reported, Taylor's actually pulling back on live shows this year -- doing fewer huge stadium dates -- partly so she can spend more time with her mother ... who's battling cancer and a brain tumor.

Michael Jackson's Estate is slamming HBO, claiming the network is part of a grossly unfair hatchet job just to make a buck.

The Estate is lashing out after HBO announced "Leaving Neverland" will be broadcast on March 3 and 4.

The Estate's letter to HBO targets director Dan Reed, claiming he featured 2 admitted perjurers -- Wade Robson and James Safechuck -- and consciously refused to contact anyone who would discredit them. And, the letter makes it clear -- there are plenty of people who do just that.

The letter says, "The Estate spent years litigating with Robson and Safechuck, and had four different lawsuits by these two men dismissed with prejudice. Today, Robson owes the Estate almost seventy thousand dollars in court costs, and Safechuck owes the Estate thousands of dollars as well."

And, the letter goes on, noting that following MJ's 2009 death, Robson said Michael was "one of the main reasons I believe in the pure goodness of human kind."

As for why Robson changed his story ... the Estate reiterated what it's said before, that he became angry when the Estate rejected him as a choreographer for the MJ-themed Cirque de Soleil.

And, the letter says, "Robson is such a good liar that his own mother testified under oath at her deposition that she could not tell when he was lying; she even volunteered that 'he should have had an Oscar given how convincing his lies were.'"

The Estate blasts Safechuck, scoffing at claims that his memory of abuse was triggered when he saw Robson on the "Today" show, adding, "Safechuck's frivolous lawsuits were dismissed so early in the proceedings that significant discovery was never taken ..."

Ne-Yo is squarely in Michael Jackson's corner, and says he doesn't care if the accusers featured in the new documentary are lying or not.

We got Ne-Yo Friday night at LAX, and asked him about the doc, "Leaving Neverland," that was previewed at the Sundance Film Festival. Ne-Yo was clear ... he's not going to see it, adding, "I'm going to keep my memory of Michael Jackson the way it is."

As for whether he believes the 2 accusers in the docs, Wade Robson and James Safechuck, are lying, Ne-Yo pays no mind to it.

Here's a tip for Jordan Peele ... DON'T MAKE THIS WOMAN ANGRY!!

The lady in the photo is Lorena Bobbitt -- who infamously sliced off her husband's penis back in 1993.

No, Peele's not making a new horror flick -- he's actually the executive producer of a 4-episode documentary series about her life called "Lorena."

The two are promoting the series at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah -- and everyone seems to be having a good time.

The real-life story of Lorena and John Wayne Bobbitt is intense -- she claimed she cut off his junk after he had raped her, allegations John adamantly denied.

Lorena later drove away with the severed penis and threw it into a field before calling 911.

Officials found the penis and it was surgically reattached. John later showed off his surgically repaired wiener in a series of porno videos ... claiming it was back to normal.

The case went to trial and John was found not guilty of sexually assaulting his wife.

Lorena was charged with malicious wounding -- but was found not guilty of due to temporary insanity.

Jason Momoa not only owns the land beneath the sea ... he owns the ski slopes too!

We got the coolest man at the Sundance Film Festival Friday night leaving Butcher's Chop House in Park City, Utah, and he declared his impending dominance on the slopes. Jason says he's breakin' out the snowboard Saturday and he will be king of the mountain.

He's certainly king of the sea. "Aquaman" has become the highest grossing DC superhero flick, grossing more than a billion bucks.

Jason's at Sundance to host a panel on, "The Creatives Behind Some of YouTube's Buzziest Channels."

Michael Jackson's estate is slamming a new documentary making allegations of sexual abuse by the late singer ... by calling out the doc's producers for what it says is a clear attempt to exploit Michael when it premieres at Sundance.

MJ's estate tells TMZ ... “This is yet another lurid production in an outrageous and pathetic attempt to exploit and cash in on Michael Jackson."

The doc, titled "Leaving Neverland," is set to premiere at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, and it reportedly accuses Michael of sexually abusing two young boys.

The King of Pop's estate also says the "so-called documentary is just another rehash of dated and discredited allegations. It’s baffling why any credible filmmaker would involve himself with this project.”

Carey Mulligan may have been under the false impression SUN-dance did not require headgear, but she learned a hard lesson Saturday during the famous film festival.

Carey left the hotel without headgear, which she clearly soon regretted. She braved the 20 degree cold to see the sights, along with Zoe Kazan, the screenwriter who wrote "Wildlife" in which Carey stars.

Carey is in Sundance promoting her film, "Wildlife" ... based on a 1990 novel about a boy who watches his parents' marriage fall apart.

The Sundance Film Festival goes until a week from today.

Malia Obama won't be making coffee runs for her internship at the Weinstein Company, and she's not at Sundance to schmooze with the boss ... TMZ has learned.

Sources close to the film company tell us Malia's paid internship hasn't started yet, and her visit to the film fest in Park City this week is on her own time. Kinda like she's doing her homework before an exam, plus she's a huge film buff.

We're told Malia's stint with Weinstein begins in February, but it's still unclear what her day-to-day duties will be -- interns get involved in everything from film production to finance. Just depends on their interests.

As for menial duties like caffeine fixes for execs -- one source laughed heartily and said it's just not part of the program.