Scheana Shay Signs Deal for Representation with Independent Artist Group

Scheana Shay has new representation…

The 38-year-old half-Mexican American television personality, actress, singer and Vanderpump Rules star has inked a deal with Independent Artist Group.

Scheana Shay

The announcement comes on the heels of the show’s Season 11 renewal.

Shay has been with the Emmy-nominated Bravo reality series since its 2013 debut season and earlier this year won an MTV Movie & TV Award alongside her female castmates for Best Reality On-Screen Team.

The show was the first spin-off of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and charts the personal and professional experiences of the staff at Lisa Vanderpump’s restaurants and bars in West Hollywood, California, including SUR Restaurant & Lounge, Pump Restaurant and Tom Tom Restaurant & Bar.

Shay came to the series as a server at SUR, who was building a career as an actress and singer. The SoCal native began her entertainment career with appearances on popular series including Jonas (Disney Channel), 90210 (The CW), Greek (ABC Family), Victorious (Nickelodeon) and Entourage (HBO), and has also been seen in numerous national commercials.

She’s also known for hosting and regular commentator appearances for programs like Steve Harvey and hosts the popular podcast Scheananigans with Scheana Shay, which has a consistent presence across the global charts and over a million monthly downloads. “Good As Gold,” one of Shay’s recent singles as a recording artist, was reconfigured into an Uber One commercial that has gone viral on social media platforms this year.

Bella Thorne to Star in the Fantastical Indie Drama “The Tower”

Bella Thorne is towering ahead…

The 25-year-old half-Cuban American actress/singer will star opposite Jack Kilmer in The Tower, one of 102 projects to have been granted a SAG-AFTRA Interim Agreement following the launch of the actors strike.

Bella ThorneThe fantastical drama, from filmmaker Adam Sigal , will also feature Cam Gigandet and Chris Mullinax.

The film currently in production is billed as a dark tale about a mysterious mermaid trapped and forgotten for years in the water tower of a small Southern town.

Sigal described it as his “attempt to interpret the isolation and wanderlust I felt growing up in a small Southern town.”

The Tower is among the projects that began shooting shortly before the SAG-AFTRA strike launched and went on pause in the wake of the walkout until the securement of a SAG waiver.

Of his project’s ability to move forward amidst the dual SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, Sigal said, “It breaks my heart that there are so many actors, writers and crews unable to work at the moment, and I realize how fortunate we are to have the opportunity to finish this film. I am incredibly grateful to SAG for continuing to support independent film, and as soon as we wrap, the cast of The Tower and I will be out there on the picket lines beside our fellow actors and writers, fighting for what they deserve.”

Rising to fame with her starring role on Disney Channel’s Shake It Up, Thorne has since appeared in numerous films including BlendedAlvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip, Netflix’s The Babysitter and its sequel, Amityville: The Awakening and Infamous.

Selena Gomez Teases New Music

Selena Gomez is back in the studio…

This week, the 29-year-old Mexican American singer/actress shared a clip of herself inside the vocal booth on TikTok, simply captioned “New.”

Selena GomezThe catch? The TikTok comes virtually without any sound, so Selenators aren’t able to get an audible sneak peek of what Gomez is cooking up.

Whatever music she’s making, though, will be a follow-up to her 2021 Spanish-language EP Revelación, which peaked at No. 22 on the Billboard 200 and earned Gomez her first-ever Grammy nomination, for best Latin Pop Album, at the 64th annual Grammy Awards in April.

Gomez’s most recent full-length studio effort, meanwhile, was 2020’s Rare, which contained No. 1 hit “Lose You to Love Me,” as well as follow-up singles “Look At Her Now,” “Rare” and “Boyfriend.”

Gomez’s behind-the-scenes TikTok isn’t the first time she’s teased new music in the last few weeks, either.

During a celebration event for her cosmetics brand Rare Beauty, she hinted at the prospect during a rapid-fire Q&A session with TikTok makeup artist Mikayla Nogueira.

Of course, the onetime Disney Channel starlet has had plenty of other commitments on her plate in between albums: Season 2 of her hit series Only Murders in the Building just premiered on Hulu and she also took time off to attend the star-studded wedding of Britney Spears and Sam Asghari, where she even jumped on the mic with Paris Hilton to perform an impromptu rendition of “Stars Are Blind” for the bride.

Sofia Carson to Speak at This Year’s Women in Entertainment Summit

Sofia Carson will be celebrating women in entertainment…

The 29-year-old Colombian American actress/singer will speak at the 2022 Women in Entertainment Summit.

Sofia CarsonCarson, best known for her work on the Disney Channel’s Descendants franchise, is among a list of new additions to the speakers lineup that includes Connie BrittonChandler Kinney and Reign Edwards.

The actresses will all participate in fireside chats at the June 22 event, which marks WIE’s first summit since 2019 and its sixth overall.

This year’s panel topics include how creatives keep a beloved story relevant to up and coming audiences, how media companies are expanding their offerings to meet the needs of today’s consumers, how to negotiate deals within the IP and talent rights space, and much more.

Previously announced speakers for Women in Entertainment Summit 2022 include Paul Feig, Karen Pittman and Alexandra Shipp, among dozens of other executive producers, writers, executives and stars from within the entertainment and media industries.

This edition of WIE will be held at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, California.

Founded by Renee Rossi and Gretchen McCourt, WIE aims to bring together women and men who are “dedicated to celebrating the empowerment of women in all areas of the entertainment industry.”

“Our mission is and always has been to share knowledge from incredible women who have built successful businesses in the world of entertainment and media,” Rossi said when the return of WIE Summit was revealed. “We are back stronger than ever this year – combining a group of vastly dynamic speakers and panel topics to curate an event that I’m confident will help aspiring professionals grow and evolve their careers.”

Coldplay Releases Music Video for Selena Gomez Collaboration “Let Somebody Go”

Selena Gomez is letting (somebody) go

The 29-year-old Mexican American actress/singer’s collaboration with Coldplay, “Let Somebody Go,” has received the music video treatment.

Selena Gomez, Chris Martin, Coldplay, Let Somebody GoThe English rock band has unveiled a stunning black and white visual to accompany the emotive track.

In the video, frontman Chris Martin and Gomez inhabit a city that, with the help of impressive CGI work, is turned both upside down and inside out.

The pair shares a loving embrace with each other before taking walks separately through the slowly disintegrating town, later meeting up in an infinitely winding staircase and flying through a turbulent sky.

“All the storms we weathered/ Everything that we went through/ Now, without you, what on earth am I to do?/ When I called the mathematicians and I ask them to explain/ They said love is only equal to the pain,” Gomez sings on her verse of the song. The video concludes with Gomez and Martin in the same area where they shared their first embrace — this time, their bodies fade away to illustrate the passage of time.

During an October 14 appearance on On Air With Ryan Seacrest, the Coldplay frontman explained why he wanted the former Disney Channel star to sing on the track.

“First of all, Selena’s personality inside, she’s just an angel,” Martin shared. “I’ve got so much love and respect for her. She’s such a good, kind person, and then her voice for me is in like what I would call ‘the Rihanna bag,’ which are voices that are gifts to humanity…you can’t feel worse listening to her sing.”

Coldplay and Gomez initially debuted the track in a live joint appearance on the The Late Late Show With James Corden as part of a weeklong residency on October 19.

“Let Somebody Go” served as the second single from Coldplay’s ninth album, Music of the Spheres. The track charted at No. 91 on the Billboard Hot 100, with the album reaching No. 4 on the Billboard 200.

Demi Lovato Teases Return to Their Rock Roots

Demi Lovato is ready rock…

The 29-year-old half-Mexican American singer/actor jokingly took to Instagram to announce their pop music is officially dead.

Demi LovatoLovato shared an image on their grid posing with both middle fingers up, joined by music executives from Island Records and manager Scooter Braun. Every person in the picture wore all black.

“A funeral for my pop music,” Lovato captioned the image.

Lovato shared more insight through their Instagram Story, with one of the label executives saying, “You put out whatever music you want, whenever you want to. Break the rules.” Demi promptly screamed in excitement at the news, and shared two snippets of a new rock song in the following clips.

“Yeah you’re pushing me to the edge/ Prod me, lie to me, ungodly things have been sent/ Here are your tickets to the freak show baby, sci-fi, watch the freak go crazy,” the former Disney Channel star sings over heavy guitar strumming, before a high-energy chorus rolls in.

It’s currently unclear what the track is titled or when it will be available, but the star has an unrelated collaboration with band Winnetka Bowling League titled “FIIMY(F— It, I Miss You) arriving on February 4.

Lovato’s most recent album, Dancing With the Devil…The Art of Starting Over, primarily featured pop lyrics and production.

The album peaked at No. 2 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart.

Lovato’s rock-inspired sound was first heard in their first two albums, Don’t Forget and Here We Go Again, under Disney’s Hollywood Records.

Adrienne Bailon-Houghton to Reunite with Raven-Symone on Disney Channel’s “Raven’s Home”

Adrienne Bailon-Houghton is heading Home

The 38-year-old Puerto Rican and Ecuadorian American singer, actress and television personality is set to recur on the fifth season of Raven-Symone’s Disney Channel series Raven’s Home.

Adrienne Bailon-Houghton, Raven's Home, Raven-Symone,

Bailon-Houghton will reprise the role of Raven’s high school bully Alana from That’s So Raven, according to TVLine. What’s more, Alana is now the principal of Bayside, where Booker enrolls after he and Raven move back to San Francisco to care for her father.

“I’ve always been hopeful about [playing Alana again], so to be able to make it happen was a dream come true,” Houghton tells TVLine. “I always love working with [Raven-Symoné]. We did the first Cheetah Girls movie when I was 19, and now I’m 38, so we’ve stayed friends for almost 20 years. We laugh at the fact that we were playing the high school students… and now we’re playing the parents. It’s so bizarre!”

The entire experience of returning to Raven’s world was “wildly nostalgic” for Houghton, beginning with the flowers she found in her dressing room from Gary Marsh, the president and chief creative officer for Disney Branded Television.

Adrienne Bailon-Houghton, Raven's Home, Raven-Symone,

“Gary has been one of those beacons of light throughout my career, ever since I was in The Cheetah Girls,” she says. “I would call him my industry father. To have a letter from him, welcoming me back to Disney Channel, I almost bawled my eyes out. I was so happy to be back. Not only was That’s So Raven filmed on that lot, but I also did The Suite Life of Zack and Cody on that lot. I remember all of our Cheetah Girls photo shoots and promo shoots. Even just being in the dressing room was insane.”

As for Alana being the principal, Houghton admits she was “fully shocked” by her character’s new gig. “How genius of the writers of this show to create that dynamic where the school bully becomes the principal,” she says. “It’s funny and ironic, and I’m loving being the authority figure.” Sure, it’s possible that Alana will eventually have a “pivotal moment” that inspires her to change her ways, but Houghton says she’s “having too much fun torturing Raven Baxter as a grown woman” to let that happen anytime soon.

Raven and Alana’s confrontational (yet playful) dynamic is on full display when the women eventually reunite, which Houghton credits to her and Raven’s decades-long friendship.

“We were able to have fun when Alana was the bully because we were comfortable enough to do all that physical comedy,” she says. “There are things we created and did that we were able to do because we were really friends.”

A premiere date for Raven’s Home Season 5 has not yet been announced.

Chrissie Fit to Star in Indie Comedy “The List”

Chrissie Fit is makin’ The List

The 37-year-old Cuban American actress has joined the cast of The List, the indie comedy from director Melissa Miller Costanzo.

Chrissie Fit

Fit forms part of a list of new cast additions that includes Jonah Platt, Will Peltz and Zach Reino.

They join previously announced leads Halston Sage, Christian Navarro and Gregg Sulkin.

The film written by Rob Lederer and Steve Vitolo centers on Abby (Sage), a woman who is about to get married, for whom everything is perfect. Until she finds out her fiancé Matt (Platt) has slept with a celebrity from his “free pass” list. To get her mind off things, Abby and her best friend Chloe (Fit) come up with a crazy idea: Abby should pursue a celebrity from her own list. But things become complicated when she meets Jake (Navarro), a sweet and charming waiter at a neighborhood cafe, who gives her a fresh perspective.

Peltz is portraying Avon, an LA-based rapper/pop star who is on a lot of free pass lists, including Abby’s, with Reino as Matt’s best friend and consistent bad influence, Connor.

Fit is best known for turns in Universal’s Pitch Perfect franchise and Disney Channel’s Teen Beach films. She can currently be seen in Amazon’s series reboot of I Know What You Did Last Summer, and will next be seen in Showtime comedy series I Love This for You, as well as Starz’ horror comedy, Shining Vale.

Fit has also recurred on Comedy Central’s Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens and Disney Channel’s Elena of Avalor, among other series. Additional film credits include Universal’s All My Life and HBO Max’s Women Is Losers.

Reino is a comedian and actor who has appeared on the TV side in HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, Netflix’s Brews BrothersA.P. BioSofia the FirstSpeechlessCrazy Ex-Girlfriend and more. He recently wrote on Peacock’s new series Baking It with Maya Rudolph and Andy Samberg and co-hosts Off Book, a popular podcast, which originally debuted on Earwolf. Reino also co-wrote the script for Elizabeth Banks’ upcoming Amazon film Where the Fore Are We? with David Wain and Jess McKenna.

Felix Avitia to Appear on Disney Channel’s “Raven’s Home”

Felix Avitia is coming Home

The 19-year-old Latino actor has been cast in Disney Channel’s Raven’s Home, which has just been renewed for a fifth season.

Felix Avitia

Starring Raven-Symoné as Raven Baxter and Isaac Ryan Brown as her son Booker, the spinoff series will continue to follow the adventures of the somewhat psychic Raven Baxter and her teen son Booker, who has inherited the same gift of catching glimpses of the future.

No word yet on Avitia’s role on the series.

In addition to Avitia, season five welcomes Rondell Sheridan to the cast, reprising the role of Victor Baxter, Raven’s dad, as well as Mykal-Michelle Harris and Emmy Liu-Wang.

Scott Thomas and Jed Elinoff developed the series and join Symoné as executive producers, along with Anthony C. Hill.

The series was created by Michael Poryes and Susan Sherman and is a production of It’s a Laugh Productions, Inc.

Avitia’s previous credits include Zero, Gamer’s Guide to Pretty Much Everything and Just The Tip.

Aimee Carrero to Star in Searchlight’s Comedic Psychological Thriller “The Menu”

Aimee Carrero is ordering from the menu

The 33-year-old Dominican and Puerto Rican actress has joined the cast of Searchlight’s The Menu.

Aimee Carrero

The film, directed by Mark Mylod, is a darkly comedic psychological thriller set in the world of eccentric culinary culture, centering on a young couple who visit an exclusive restaurant on a remote island where an acclaimed chef has prepared a lavish tasting menu.

Previously announced cast includes Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph FiennesJohn LeguizamoNicholas Hoult, and Hong Chau.

Carrero has a long list of credits in both television and film. On the small screen, she’s appeared in The MentalistThe AmericansLevel Up, and Young & Hungry, among others. And in The Last Witch HunterAlvin and the Chipmunks: The SqueakquelHolidate, and most recently, Wander Darkly, for the big screen.

She’s most famously known for voicing Disney’s first Latina princess Elena of Avalor in the Disney Channel animated series of the same name, and for bringing to life the titular character in Netflix’s She-Ra and the Princess of Power.

Up next for Carrero is a recurring role in The Maid for Netflix set to be released October 1, and the as-yet-untitled The Boys spin-off for Amazon Prime Video.