Amelia Dimoldenberg Is Ending "Chicken Shop Date" After 12 Years — RIP to the Flirting Economy
Amelia Dimoldenberg — host, writer, and producer of the series that turned awkward chicken shop interviews into a whole celebrity ritual — broke the news via Instagram on Thursday, closing the book on 12 years of tele...
Quick Hits
- End of an era, for real: Amelia Dimoldenberg announced Thursday that she's ending "Chicken Shop Date" after 12 years. No more deadpan flirting over fries. Genuinely devastating news for the internet.
- Elliot Page's phone is silent: Page says he hasn't gotten job offers since appearing in this summer's record-breaking smash "The Odyssey," telling the "On Film… With Kevin McCarthy" podcast, "If someone wants to call me…" Casting directors, explain yourselves.
- Jeff Goldblum will host the "SNL U.K." season 2 premiere. Correct casting. No notes.
- John Malkovich is already getting Oscar buzz at Venice for "Wild Horse Nine" and is supremely unbothered: "They'll retire me when it's time."
- Suno is being sued again — Canadian rights org SOCAN has filed a copyright claim against the AI music app over alleged infringement of its members' works.
What's Trending
Amelia Dimoldenberg — host, writer, and producer of the series that turned awkward chicken shop interviews into a whole celebrity ritual — broke the news via Instagram on Thursday, closing the book on 12 years of television's most committed deadpan. This is the rare "show ending" announcement that genuinely feels like a cultural shift. What are celebs going to do now, be interviewed normally? Tragic.
Elsewhere, BuzzFeed reports that people are side-eyeing Travis Kelce's comments about Taylor Swift's style for sounding "suspiciously like a press release" — with one viral reaction comparing his phrasing to "ChatGPT if it was prompted to give a generic description of the median woman's sense of style." Sir, the assignment was to talk about your girlfriend, not draft marketing copy.
Music
- Villano Antillano is making what Rolling Stone calls her biggest sonic leap yet with new album Ante el Umbral del Peligro No Siento Temor — a record about migration, self-discovery, and transformation. Puerto Rico keeps delivering.
- Iron Maiden and Lagunitas are taking the Trooper West Coast IPA on the road for the "Run For Your Lives" world tour, with Bruce Dickinson personally turning the beer up to 11 alongside brewmaster Jeremy Marshall. Very on-brand.
- MUNA has a back-to-school collab with UGG that Billboard says is about self-expression, not just fashion. Cozy boots, chaotic band energy — yes please.
- Kelly Rowland has some advice for KATSEYE as the girl group navigates changing dynamics: "be kind to yourselves." She credits Destiny's Child with teaching her you can show up for fans while still honoring what you need. A legend mentoring the next generation — we love to see it.
- A UMusic Hotel is set to open in London in 2026 via a partnership with Outernet on Denmark Street. A whole hotel for music people. The lobby better have decent acoustics.
- And in the ongoing AI mess: SOCAN's claim against Suno alleges the platform unlawfully infringed its members' rights. The AI music lawsuits pile keeps growing.
Movies & TV
- Jeff Goldblum launching "SNL U.K." season 2 is genuinely exciting — the "Jurassic Park" icon is a regular in the U.K., and you already know he's going to be delightfully unhinged in live sketch format.
- John Malkovich is downplaying Venice Oscar buzz for "Wild Horse Nine," the Martin McDonagh dark comedy premiering at the festival. The man has zero interest in the awards machine and honestly? Refreshing.
- Julianne Moore will receive the Golden Icon Award at the 22nd Zurich Film Festival, honoring her "extraordinary career" and her performance in Jesse Eisenberg's "The Debut." An icon receiving icon honors — checks out.
- Casting news of the day: Sandra Hüller will play male German writer Wolfgang Herrndorf in Maria Schrader's "Work and Structure" for Studiocanal. Hüller playing a man? She will absolutely devour that role.
- The Elliot Page situation is the strangest story of the day — you'd think a role in the summer's record-breaking box-office smash would have your inbox exploding, but Page says the offers just haven't come. Hollywood, be serious.
- Mexican stop-motion duo Roy and Arturo Ambriz are at Venice with "Ballad of the Phoenix," and they're sharing advice they got from Guillermo del Toro: "go bigger." From the guy who knows a thing or two about going bigger, that tracks.
- Trisha Krishnan is leading Panorama Studios' first-ever Tamil production, a psychological horror directed by Raja Krishna Menon and shot in London.
- Swiss French filmmaker Ursula Meier is prepping her English-language debut "Quiet Land" — a detective-story-meets-romantic-drama set in Big Sky country — and says Gillian Anderson inspired her to tell an "American story."
- Prime Video is doubling its investment in Japanese originals over the next two years, with a Kore-eda documentary on boy band Arashi leading the slate.
Celebrity Tea
- Denise Richards' estranged husband Aaron Phypers claims his car was repossessed and he couldn't even afford gas, according to a declaration filed in their bitter divorce — the latest chapter in an eviction drama that keeps getting bleaker. Per TMZ, the financial situation is "increasingly dire." Yikes across the board.
- Anya Taylor-Joy lands the September cover of V Magazine's Issue 162, shot by Nick Knight — the spread is literally called "Crafting Joy," which is very on-brand for her whole porcelain-doll-in-a-period-drama aesthetic.
TikTok & Internet
- Julia Stiles has posted her first-ever TikTok, and yes, the internet noticed. Katarina "come to Brazil" Ballentine? Well, sort of. Welcome, queen.
- In "how is this real" news: TMZ reports a man dumpster diving in San Francisco was accidentally dumped into a garbage truck and trapped inside before firefighters rescued him early Wednesday. He survived. The vibe did not. What a way to start September.
That's the day! Light on scandal, heavy on endings — pour one out (preferably a Trooper IPA) for Chicken Shop Date. 🍗