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Scarlett Johansson Brings 50th Season of 'SNL' to a Low-key Close

US actress Scarlett Johansson presents the film 'Jurassic World Rebirth' onstage during CinemaCon. VALERIE MACON / AFP
US actress Scarlett Johansson presents the film 'Jurassic World Rebirth' onstage during CinemaCon. VALERIE MACON / AFP
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Scarlett Johansson Brings 50th Season of 'SNL' to a Low-key Close

US actress Scarlett Johansson presents the film 'Jurassic World Rebirth' onstage during CinemaCon. VALERIE MACON / AFP
US actress Scarlett Johansson presents the film 'Jurassic World Rebirth' onstage during CinemaCon. VALERIE MACON / AFP

“Saturday Night Live” was more reflective than festive in the final episode of its 50th season.
Scarlett Johansson, who set a record for a woman with her seventh appearance as host, used her monologue to lead most of the current cast of the NBC sketch institution in a song sung to the tune of Billy Joel's “Piano Man."
The performance looked back on an eventful year that included an election, an epic anniversary special and a star-studded concert.
“Sing us a song, it’s your monologue, the 50th season is through,” Johansson sang, along with Bowen Yang, Ego Nwodim, Mikey Day, Heidi Gardner and others. “It’s lasting forever, we did it together, and we got to spend it with you."
Johansson teased, then took back, a guest appearance that would have been in keeping with the season's excess of guest stars, The Associated Press said.
“Ladies and gentlemen, Billy Joel!” she shouted, before adding, “wrote this song.”
No post-season cast departures have been announced, so no emotional farewells were necessary, but Johansson and the cast joked in the song that Sarah Sherman would be gone.
“It’s been a great season and Sarah is leaving, we’re all gonna miss you next year!" they sang. A stunned Sherman replied, “Wait, what? Did you guys hear something?”
Johansson's husband, Colin Jost, is a writer on the show and anchor of the “Weekend Update” segment.
Jost and co-anchor Michael Che returned to their annual season-finale tradition of writing and being forced to deliver wildly inappropriate jokes for each other.
Johansson is the subject of many of the Che-written jokes, so this year Jost compelled Che to bring her out and apologize for once comparing part of her body to “Costco roast beef.”
The 50th season brought much media discussion of who might run the show should 80-year-old creator Lorne Michaels ever step down.
Some have suggested Jost might replace Michaels and Che forced Jost to address the issue with one of the jokes written for him.
“It’s SNL’s 50th season, so I want to take a moment to say something to our boss,” Jost said. “Lorne, retire, bitch! let me run the show.”
Jost also appeared in a pre-recorded, behind-the-scenes bit where Johansson has torrid sex with Yang after she confesses to Nwodim and Gardner that she has a crush on him, and learns he has only been publicly pretending to be gay “for the clout.”
Johansson has her heart broken when she learns Yang also has been hooking up with Nwodim, Gardner and guest star Emily Ratajkowski.
In another behind-the-scenes digital short made by the three members of comedy group Please Don't Destroy, Johansson treats the trio to a first-class flight that becomes a luxe hip-hop video until the men panic when they learn they are landing at the troubled airport of Newark, New Jersey.
Musical guest Bad Bunny appears as an air traffic controller, working alone on his first day.
As in nearly every episode of this season, James Austin Johnson's Trump broke the fourth wall and walked into the audience at the end of the bit.
“It’s the ‘SNL’ finale, season 50 — worst one yet!” he said. “See you again in the fall if we still have a country. It’s a coin toss.”

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Entertainment

Spanish Soccer Team Desperately Seeking Madonna and Her 36-Year-Old Shirt

Madonna arrives for the Dolce & Gabbana Fall/Winter 2026/2027 fashion show during Fashion Week in Milan, Italy, February 28, 2026. (Reuters)
Madonna arrives for the Dolce & Gabbana Fall/Winter 2026/2027 fashion show during Fashion Week in Milan, Italy, February 28, 2026. (Reuters)
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Spanish Soccer Team Desperately Seeking Madonna and Her 36-Year-Old Shirt

Madonna arrives for the Dolce & Gabbana Fall/Winter 2026/2027 fashion show during Fashion Week in Milan, Italy, February 28, 2026. (Reuters)
Madonna arrives for the Dolce & Gabbana Fall/Winter 2026/2027 fashion show during Fashion Week in Milan, Italy, February 28, 2026. (Reuters)

Spanish soccer team Celta Vigo is desperately seeking Madonna as it goes in search of a 36-year-old soccer shirt the pop star wore during a 1990 concert at its Balaidos stadium.

Madonna appeared on stage wearing the club's true blue colors during her Blonde Ambition tour in July 1990.

She delighted locals who claimed the material girl as one of their own and brought unexpected attention to defender Jose Manuel Espinosa, whose No. 5 shirt she wore.

However, the whereabouts of the cherished garment are unknown and, after searching fruitlessly for decades, Celta is asking the 67-year-old Madonna to help find it for the club's archive.

“Although ours was not the only football shirt you ever wore on stage, this iconic image has grown to shine differently as years have passed,” Celta president Marián Mouriño Terrazo wrote in an open letter to the American icon.

“Over time we came to better understand what you stood for back then: questioning established norms and standing up to those who try to tell you what you can or cannot do. At our club we recognize ourselves in this line of thought. That is why we hold on to the hope of finding the garment you once wore.

“Do you have it? If you know where it may be, or if you would like to join us in the search to retrieve it, please contact us via private message.”

The appeal caused a commotion on social media after it was published on Wednesday and the club doubled down before Friday's 2-1 home league defeat by Real Madrid, playing Madonna’s songs before kickoff and putting her picture on the field and on social media.

Mouriño Terrazo told local media he was hopeful the repercussions would reach the pop star.

“I imagine that the letter reached Madonna and that she will reply,” he said.

Madonna burst on the scene in 1983 with the hit Holiday and followed that with a run of top-10 hits that included “Like a Virgin”,” Papa Don’t Preach” and “Ray of Light.”

She remains one of the most successful recording artists in history.

Entertainment

Britney Spears Arrested and Released, California Sheriff's Records Show

(FILES) US singer Britney Spears arrives for the premiere of Sony Pictures' "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood" at the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California on July 22, 2019. (Photo by VALERIE MACON / AFP)
(FILES) US singer Britney Spears arrives for the premiere of Sony Pictures' "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood" at the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California on July 22, 2019. (Photo by VALERIE MACON / AFP)
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Britney Spears Arrested and Released, California Sheriff's Records Show

(FILES) US singer Britney Spears arrives for the premiere of Sony Pictures' "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood" at the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California on July 22, 2019. (Photo by VALERIE MACON / AFP)
(FILES) US singer Britney Spears arrives for the premiere of Sony Pictures' "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood" at the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California on July 22, 2019. (Photo by VALERIE MACON / AFP)

Britney Spears was arrested Wednesday night in Southern California and booked early the following morning, though the charge was not clear, according to the Ventura County Sheriff’s office website.

Messages seeking comment were left with the sheriff's office; the California Highway Patrol, which was identified as the arresting agency; and Spears' representative.

Spears was arrested around 9:30 p.m. in Ventura County and released on Thursday, sheriff's office records show. She has a May 4 court date schedule, The Associated Press reported.

Spears, born in Mississippi and raised in Louisiana, was a teen pop phenomenon who became a defining superstar of the ’90s and 2000s. She rose to fame from Disney Channel’s “The Mickey Mouse Club” to MTV and beyond, with such era-defining hits like “... Baby One More Time,” “Oops! ... I Did It Again” and “Toxic.”

Most of her albums have been certified platinum, according to the Recording Industry Association of America, with two diamond titles: 1999’s “ ... Baby One More Time” and 2000’s “Oops! ... I Did It Again.” Her last full-length album, “Glory,” was released in 2016.

Spears became a focus of tabloids in the early 2000s, and a source of public scrutiny, as she battled mental illness and paparazzi documented the details of her private life.

Later, as cultural opinion evolved to recognize the misogynistic media coverage of the time, Spears’ fight to control her life became the focus of the #FreeBritney movement.

In 2008, Spears was placed under a court-ordered conservatorship, run primarily by her father and his lawyers, that would control her personal and financial decisions for well over a decade. It was dissolved in 2021. Two years later, she released a bestselling, tell-all memoir, “The Woman in Me.”

Entertainment

Disney Pixar's 'Hoppers' Seeks to Turn Viral Meme Into Box Office Gold

US actor Jon Hamm (L) poses with Tom Lizard as he arrives for the world premiere of Disney and Pixar's film 'Hoppers' at the El Capitan Theater in Los Angeles, California, USA, 23 February 2026. EPA/JILL CONNELLY
US actor Jon Hamm (L) poses with Tom Lizard as he arrives for the world premiere of Disney and Pixar's film 'Hoppers' at the El Capitan Theater in Los Angeles, California, USA, 23 February 2026. EPA/JILL CONNELLY
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Disney Pixar's 'Hoppers' Seeks to Turn Viral Meme Into Box Office Gold

US actor Jon Hamm (L) poses with Tom Lizard as he arrives for the world premiere of Disney and Pixar's film 'Hoppers' at the El Capitan Theater in Los Angeles, California, USA, 23 February 2026. EPA/JILL CONNELLY
US actor Jon Hamm (L) poses with Tom Lizard as he arrives for the world premiere of Disney and Pixar's film 'Hoppers' at the El Capitan Theater in Los Angeles, California, USA, 23 February 2026. EPA/JILL CONNELLY

Walt Disney's Pixar Animation Studios is hoping a viral meme featuring a googly-eyed lizard character from its new film, "Hoppers," translates into box office success when the movie opens this weekend in theaters.

The studio unwittingly spawned the social media hit when a 28-second clip of the goofy-looking sea-green reptile repeatedly tapping a glowing screen to trigger an automated voice that says "lizard" appeared in the end credits of another Pixar film, "Elio," released last June.

The clip went viral. It inspired music mixes to songs from Far East Movement and The Ting Tings on TikTok, a "Lizard Click" website with a button that repeats the word "lizard" in a robotic voice, and thousands of social media posts that, within two months, attracted some 316 million views, according to Disney.

"I don't know that you can ever predict these things. As soon as you try to make ⁠something go viral, ⁠that's like certain death," said Pixar's Chief Creative Officer Pete Docter. "We just thought it was funny. We thought this character is quirky and weird."

According to Reuters, Pixar quietly laid claim to the character in a social media post in August, simply saying, "his name is Tom."

"People fell in love with Tom the Lizard," said Martha Morrison, head of marketing for Walt Disney Studios. "Then, we were sort of figuring out when's the right time to identify that Tom the Lizard is part of our movie."

The film is about a young animal lover, Mabel, who uses new technology ⁠to "hop" her consciousness into a robotic beaver and communicate directly with animals.

While audiences have flocked to cinemas to see animated sequels, such as Disney’s “Zootopia 2,” which is approaching $2 billion in worldwide ticket sales, original films with unfamiliar characters and stories, like "Elio," have struggled at the box office, bringing in a modest $20.8 million on opening weekend.

"Hoppers" is on track to open to $35 to $40 million in the US and Canada, according to one estimate.

Original animation has always been a harder sell, but that's been particularly true since the COVID-19 outbreak, when Disney released animated films like “Soul,” “Luca” and “Turning Red” straight to its Disney+ streaming service.

Families got accustomed to seeing new animated films from the comfort of their own living rooms.

"You know, it's tough right now because people on the one hand say they want original stuff, but they, with their pocketbooks, kind of vote more for the ⁠sequels," said Docter. "I think what ⁠it is, you have to balance like stuff that people go, 'I recognize that, I see that in my own life, but it also feels like nothing I've ever seen before,' which is a really difficult needle to thread."

Tom Lizard has become an ambassador for "Hoppers," showing up in person at screenings, DJ-ing an event for social media influencers and photo-bombing ESPN broadcasts in San Francisco during Super Bowl week.

The appearances are part of a broader marketing push that includes advance screenings and sneak peeks, in addition to commercials that aired during the Super Bowl and the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.

The goal is to be in as many places as possible, convey the film's unique brand of humor and create a sense of urgency for movie-goers to head to the theaters, said Morrison.

Box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian said "Hoppers" has received the best reviews for a Pixar movie in a decade.

"Original animated films such as 'Dog Man,' 'The Wild Robot' and most recently 'GOAT' have all done very well because they're actually good movies," said Dergarabedian. "That's a currency that can deliver dividends for the long term."