Sunday, June 11, 2017

EXCLUSIVE: Why "Bachelor in Paradise" Stop after an incident between DeMario Jackson and Corinne Olympios

EXCLUSIVE: Why "Bachelor in Paradise" Stop after an incident between DeMario Jackson and Corinne Olympios

Following the announcement that production on season four of Bachelor in Paradise had been abruptly suspended amid "allegations of misconduct," new details are emerging regarding the circumstances that lead to the halt, and which contestants are at the center of the controversy.

A source close to the Bachelor in Paradise cast tells ET that when the cast first arrived to film the new season in Mexico, they were "drinking all day, having a good time… the guys and girls were bopping around, talking to everyone, trying to make connections."
 
According to the source, DeMario Jackson -- who was previously a contestant on the current season of The Bachelorette -- was soon approached by Corinne Olympios -- who famously competed for Nick Viall's heart on the most recent season of The Bachelor.

WATCH: 'Bachelor in Paradise' Production Reportedly Halted Following 'Allegations of Misconduct'

"DeMario was in the pool," the source said. "Next thing you know,Corinne comes over and hops on his lap. They start talking and joking."

The source says that things escalated quickly between the two contestants, leading to the pair getting hot and heavy together.

"Everyone is just going about their business. Cameras are rolling. Producers are everywhere," the source said. "That's when a 'third party' felt uncomfortable, claiming misconduct in the workplace. As of right now, production of Paradise is suspended indefinitely. And they are sending everyone home and telling everyone else to stay home. DeMario and Corinne got sent home soon after."

 The source went on to explain that the "third party" who made the complaint was a producer on the show.

However, the source says the producers on the show encouraged Jackson and Olympios to get together.

Following the incident, there appears to be no bad blood between the two contestants. "DeMario was trying to reach Corinne via email, Instagram and Facebook for a few days. Finally, [he] got a hold of her, they exchanged numbers and they've been talking. They are both speaking and on good terms," the source added.

It's unclear when the interaction between Jackson and Olympios took place. As for the rest of the cast, a group of Paradise stars were spotted by fans at the airport in Puerta Vallarta, Mexico, on Sunday morning.

Warner Bros. released a statement to ET on Sunday afternoon, explaining that they have "become aware of allegations of misconduct on the set of Bachelor in Paradise in Mexico."

"We have suspended production and we are conducting a thorough investigation of these allegations," the statement continued. "Once the investigation is complete, we will take appropriate responsive action."

Until this abrupt halt, the fourth season of the popular ABC reality dating series was in full production mode and was scheduled to premiere on Aug. 8. It's unclear how this development will impact the premiere date or future filming of the planned season.

Bethesda E3 2017: Starfield game, Wolfenstein news, Evil Within 2, Fallout, Elder Scrolls

Bethesda E3 2017: Starfield game, Wolfenstein news, Evil Within 2, Fallout, Elder Scrolls


The show kicked off with a montage of Bethesda staff and their families talking around games and sharing their excitement for the show. Nice to know devs have time to spawn around al the crunch.

After a short intro to the Bethesdaland theme of this year’s showcase (a “playground with something for everyone”, apparently), Bethesda boss Pete Hines arrived to cheers from the crowd.

We then had a brief recap of Bethesda’s recent releases and successes – DOOM, Dishonored 2, Prey, Fallout Shelter, Fallout 4, Skyrim Special Edition and console mods.

Then it was time to get to business, and the first cab off the rank was virtual reality, with two VR games from Bethesda due for release this very year.

The first is DOOM VFR and the second was, of course, Fallout 4 VR. Fallout VR was described as the first full and complete open world game playable in VR, while DOOM VR was labelled “it’s so hot right now”, so it presumably isn’t a full game in the same way Fallout 4 VR is.

Next up Bethesda spent a little while talking about how good The Elder Scrolls Online is, including a look at the recent Morrowind expansion.

This was a lead up to something called Creation Club, which is a marketplace for premium content on PC, PS4 and Xbox One coming this summer. It’s paid mod scheme, in other words, but there will be content from Bethesda itself as well as partner developers, as well as the best community creators.

Elder Scrolls Legends got a bit of love, too, with word that Android and iOS versions of the card battler are releasing soon. It’s also getting a Heroes of Skyrim expansion on June 29.

The Skyrim build of Switch was showcased with word of a Skyrim Amiibo activating a Legend of Zelda Link skin. That’s, uh, interesting.

Arkane followed with a look at the new Dishonored 2 DLC. It’s going to have Billy – you know who – going after the Outsider himself. 100% piss off mate: I will deck you if you try.

Before we’d recovered from this targeted personal attack, Bethesda moved on to Quake Champions. As predicted, it made a big rah-rah fuss about the title’s eSports potential. Keep trying, Bethesda! You’ll get a slice of that enormous pie eventually!! The World Championships final takes place August 26 at QuakeCon and there’s $1 million in the prize pot. Also, BJ from Wolfenstein is in Quake Champions. There you go.

After this we moved on to something everyone expected but sheered wildly for anyway: The Evil Within 2. The trailer was very dramatic and full of amazingly varied settings and situations, plus a pretty strong hint that the plot will be unfolded somewhat – good news for those of us still puzzled over what was going on in the first one. The Evil Within 2 launches Friday October 13.

The last “coming attraction” of Bethesdaland kicked off with a live-action section with a big robot dog, leading into a cinematic trailer for Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus. Channeling some of that retro America diners-and-flag-waving of Fallout, but without the nuclear devastation, and seemed to show a Nazi-occupied USA. Well, that’s timely, isn’t it. It looks amazing.

Everything Bethesda announced and showed is coming out this year. Rad!

Notably, there was nothing from Battlecry Studios. Although Bethesda hasn’t made a formal announcement we’re pretty sure Battlecry was cancelled or overhauled, and it’s been a no-show since E3 2016 – and we still don’t know what that team is up to – if it still exists.

Stay with us for all the news from E3 2017. Lock and load.

Aaron Judge clears the baseball and the beautiful baseball

Aaron Judge clears the baseball and the beautiful baseball


Aaron Judge is doing for the home run what Julius Erving once did for the dunk.

He is elevating the act, making you wonder if you have ever seen anything quite like it.

These are more than balls just clearing a fence. They have majesty, but also a touch of mythology; beauty, but also brutality. They go to left, center and right; long arcing pieces of art and fierce liners that all but scream with fury.

We are not only clocking them in total — 21 and counting now — but also in speed and distance. And perhaps best of all, in our imaginations as we wonder if we have ever seen anything like this before.

Judge’s at-bats are not to be missed, the most must-watch event in baseball right now — perhaps all of sports.

Before the Yankees devastated his pitching staff yet again Sunday en route to a 14-3 rout, Baltimore manager Buck Showalter kidded, “If they start letting me shift guys into the bleachers, then maybe I can get Judge out.”

Showalter might have to widen his scope. For Judge’s first of two homers Sunday cleared the left-field bleachers and was calculated by Statcast at 495 feet, which was the farthest a homer has traveled since Giancarlo Stanton’s 504-footer last Aug. 6.

It turned his teammates into Little Leaguers on the bench, their delirium and disbelief palpable. And after the game, it turned them into defense lawyers as they lobbied that the ball was definitely more than 500 feet, that Statcast had to be wrong, not taking into account where the ball would have landed had it not struck a reaching fan beyond the bleachers.

Brett Gardner said more than 500, CC Sabathia the same. At one point, Chris Carter, Chase Headley, Didi Gregorius, Matt Holliday and Austin Romine were collaboratively doing calculations as to the length of the bullpen, the bleachers, etc., to come up with the feet beyond the fence that the ball would have landed.

“If that is not more than 500, then no one is ever registering more than 500,” Holliday said.

Baseball is supposed to be hard, particularly hitting a round ball jetting toward you at high velocity with a round bat. Plus, you bat only every few innings and the other team can avoid throwing strikes. Yet, near daily Judge is making even seen-it-all players gawk and gasp and struggle for the right words to describe it all.

Judge hit the hardest ball of the season Saturday for a homer. He hit the farthest Sunday. He has the three hardest-hit homers this season and five of the six hardest-hit balls overall. His two-run, seventh-inning homer was a liner to right-center that “for most guys is a double in the gap or a one-hopper cut off by the outfielder for a single,” Gardner said. But with Judge’s might, it just kept going 402 feet. “It just comes off his bat differently,” Gardner added.

Judge is the main wrecking ball in a destructive Yankees offense that now has six players with double-digit homers and leads the majors in runs per game. The Yankees swept three games from Baltimore by a combined 38-8 and have scored eight or more runs in five straight games for the first time since July 6-13, 1956. Amazingly, Mickey Mantle did not play the first two games in that tear in a season when he won an MVP and the Triple Crown.

And, right now, Judge is Mantle. He went 4-for-4 Sunday with a walk and leads the AL in the Triple Crown categories, hitting .344 with 21 homers and 47 RBIs. He also has a .450 on-base percentage, .718 slugging percentage and 1.168 OPS. Those are Barry Bonds 2002-04 numbers. Which Holliday finds fitting because the veteran says Judge has the most efficient swing he has seen since Bonds.

And remember. This is a rookie. Who in a 2016 cameo struck out 42 times in 84 at-bats. When asked if he expected this, Judge said, “No, especially when I hit .170 [actually .179] last year.” Then Judge did what he always does, swerved the conversation away from him to teammates or the team. It is why he is so liked in his clubhouse. It is why he has kept perspective through the great start and Judge’s Chamber and growing fame.

“He is leading the league in All-Star votes, and if the MVP were voted on today, he’d win that, too,” Gardner said.

He has dominated 40 percent of a season in a way that no one could have seen coming, not off of last year, and really not even off the best of what he produced in the minors. Aaron Judge has played baseball at a higher level than anyone else in 2017 while taking the home run to the next level.

Pens make history with repeat title

Pens make history with repeat title


History is not made in one game. History is not made in one day. History is not made in one year.

History is built on the accumulation of time. It is as elusive as it is magnificent.

The 2017 Pittsburgh Penguins, just like the 2016 version before them, has etched their names in history, both literally and figuratively, after winning their second straight Stanley Cup championship with a 2-0 victory in Game 6 against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Sunday night.

Literally, the names of these embattled warriors will be carved into the metal surface of the Stanley Cup, onto the final blank spot of the bottom rung.

Figuratively, the legend of the Pens' accomplishments - back-to-back Stanley Cup titles, the first team to repeat as champions in the NHL in 19 years, the only team in the salary cap era to win consecutive Cups and winning three Cups in the past nine years - will outlive all of our lifetimes.

The Pens' achievements over the last two years will live forever. The names of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel and Matt Murray will be spoken in the same breath as Mario Lemieux, Ron Francis, Jaromir Jagr and Tom Barrasso.

Crosby and Malkin have fulfilled their promise as franchise players, delivering multiple championships, and will finish their careers in Toronto's hallowed hall.

Crosby has solidified himself as the greatest player of his generation. He has led his team to three Stanley Cup titles, besting even his owner, Lemieux, as a player. Crosby was twice named the most valuable player in the playoffs and was the youngest captain to win the title at 21 years old in 2009. He already has a trophy shelf filled with Olympic gold medals, NHL scoring titles, NHL MVPs and goal-scoring titles.

Malkin may not have made the list of the NHL's Greatest 100 players, but do not doubt his legendary status. Malkin also has three Cup titles, which ties for the most-ever by a Russian-born player. Malkin was also the playoff MVP in 2009, while also collecting NHL scoring titles and MVPs of his own.

Over the past nine years the Pens have gone through multiple general managers, head coaches and an ever-changing cast of players. But the one staple has always been Crosby and Malkin. They are the legs of the beast.

It's unimaginable now that a year-and-a-half ago - January of 2016 - the Pens were in danger of missing the playoffs and a black cloud of underachievement and disappointment hovered over the collective head of Crosby and Malkin.

But the story of these Pittsburgh Penguins isn't about two players. It's about a team in every sense of the word. It is a story, written with blood and sweat, of overcoming in the face of adversity.

Last season their offense grinded to a crawl while their record and confidence slumped and forced a coaching change. Head coach Mike Sullivan pulled this team from the gutter and led them to the heights of Mount Olympus.

This year offered no less in the way of adversity, mostly in the form of injuries. The Pens suffered 286 man-games lost during the regular season, yet still finished with the second-best record in the NHL.

Pittsburgh has played the entire postseason without its top blueliner in Kris Letang. In fact, the Pens have been without Letang, one of the best players in the league at his position, since mid-February.

The Pens even started the postseason without their No. 1 goaltender when Murray suffered a lower-body injury during warmups before the opening game of the postseason.

Marc-Andre Fleury, the team's faithful franchise goaltender for the past decade-plus, rode in on his white horse to save the day and helped them defeat two of top four teams in the NHL in Columbus and Washington. The defensive corps, without its leader, banded together to fight, scrape, claw and gut out shift after shift after shift.

The Pens, who have played in 213 games over the past two years, staved off fatigue and the arduous grind. That grind has killed every other team that has tried to repeat as champions in the past two decades.

Sullivan, who is the first American-born coach to win two Stanley Cups, squeezed every ounce of juice out each and every man until the drip ran dry. It was enough. The Pens are one of only two franchises to pull off the repeat in the past 29 years - Pittsburgh (1991-92, 2016-17) and Detroit (1997-98).

With many of the same players returning for next season, it's hard not to think of the capital D. Dynasty.

After all, the pillars of Crosby and Malkin are still solid. Add in Kessel, a healthy and fully healed Letang, and a cast of young stars headlined by Murray, and this year's breakout stud rookie Jake Guentzel. And just as importantly, the man steering the ship will also return - Sullivan.

The future is bright in Pittsburgh. But the present is blinding.

This season the Pens celebrated their 50th year of existence in the National Hockey League, and ended the year by celebrating their fifth Stanley Cup championship in team history.

The details may be forgotten. But the emotion will forever remain. It will be ingrained deep in the soul of this generation.

You may not remember who scored the winning goal in Game 5 against Columbus in Round One (Bryan Rust). You might not remember how many saves Fleury made in Game 7 against Washington in the Second Round for a shutout (29). You may not remember Conor Sheary scoring in overtime of Game 2 against San Jose in 2016, or that Letang scored the Cup-winning goal in Game 6 against the Sharks.

But you'll remember where you were when you watched Crosby lift the Cup, not once, not twice, but thrice. You'll remember how you felt seeing years of turmoil - bankruptcy, threats of relocation, three consecutive seasons of finishing in last place - evaporate as the Pens returned to the mountaintop. After all the tears and frustrations over the years, you'll remember that the elation and ecstasy was worth the pain.

With each passing year those feelings will only grow stronger.

Soon, the ice will melt, the equipment will be packed away and the arena will be empty. As time passes by, all that will remain is history.

This Penguins group has left its mark on history.

The legacy of these Penguins was built over the past 14 years. In one night, it was immortalized.

Puerto Rican voters hand over statehood to referendum

Puerto Rican voters hand over statehood to referendum

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Puerto Rico’s governor announced that the U.S. territory overwhelmingly chose statehood on Sunday in a nonbinding referendum held amid a deep economic crisis that has sparked an exodus of islanders to the U.S. mainland.

Nearly half a million votes were cast for statehood, about 7,600 for free association/independence and nearly 6,700 for the current territorial status, according to preliminary results. Voter turnout was just 23 percent, leading opponents to question the validity of a vote that several political parties had urged their supporters to boycott.

And the U.S. Congress has final say in any changes to Puerto Rico’s political status.

But that didn’t stop Gov. Pedro Rossello from vowing to push ahead with his administration’s quest to make the island the 51st U.S. state and declaring that “Puerto Rico voted for statehood.” He said he would create a commission to ensure that Congress validate the referendum’s results.

“In any democracy, the expressed will of the majority that participates in the electoral processes always prevails,” Rossello said. “It would be highly contradictory for Washington to demand democracy in other parts of the world, and not respond to the legitimate right to self-determination that was exercised today in the American territory of Puerto Rico.”

It was the lowest level of participation in any election in Puerto Rico since 1967, according to Carlos Vargas Ramos, an associate with the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College in New York. He also said that even among voters who supported statehood, turnout was lower this year compared with the last referendum in 2012.

 “Supporters of statehood did not seem enthusiastic about this plebiscite as they were five years ago,” he said.

Puerto Rico’s main opposition party rejected the pro-statehood result.

“The scant participation ... sends a clear message,” said Anibal Jose Torres, a party member. “The people rejected it by boycotting an inconsequential event.”

The referendum coincides with the 100th anniversary of the United States granting U.S. citizenship to Puerto Ricans, though they are barred from voting in presidential elections and have only one congressional representative with limited voting powers.

Among those hoping Puerto Rico will become a state is Jose Alvarez, a 61-year-old businessman.

“Now is the moment to do it,” he said. “We’ve spent a lot of years working on a socioeconomic model that has not necessarily given us the answer.”

Many believe the island’s territorial status has contributed to its 10-year economic recession, which has prompted nearly half a million Puerto Ricans to flee to the U.S. mainland and was largely sparked by decades of heavy borrowing and the elimination of federal tax incentives.

Puerto Rico is exempt from the U.S. federal income tax, but it still pays Social Security and Medicare and local taxes and receives less federal funding than U.S. states.

Those inequalities and the ongoing crisis prompted 66-year-old Maria Quinones to vote for the first time in such a referendum, the fifth on Puerto Rico’s status.

“We have to vote because things are not going well,” she said. “If we were a state, we would have the same rights.”

Quinones said many of her relatives are among the nearly half a million Puerto Ricans who have moved to the U.S. mainland in the past decade to find a more affordable cost of living or jobs as the island of 3.4 million people struggles with a 12 percent unemployment rate.

Those who remain behind have been hit with new taxes and higher utility bills on an island where food is 22 percent more expensive than the U.S. mainland and public services are 64 percent more expensive.

Those who oppose statehood worry the island will lose its cultural identity and warn that Puerto Rico will struggle even more financially because it will be forced to pay millions of dollars in federal taxes.

 “The cost of statehood on the pocketbook of every citizen, every business, every industry will be devastating,” Carlos Delegado, secretary of the opposition Popular Democratic Party, told The Associated Press. “Whatever we might receive in additional federal funds will be cancelled by the amount of taxes the island will have to pay.”

His party also has noted that the U.S. Justice Department has not backed the referendum.

A department spokesman told the AP that the agency has not reviewed or approved the ballot’s language. Federal officials in April rejected an original version, in part because it did not offer the territory’s current status as an option. The Rossello administration added it and sent the ballot back for review, but the department said it needed more time and asked that the vote be postponed, which it wasn’t.

No clear majority emerged in the first three referendums on status, with voters almost evenly divided between statehood and the status quo. During the last referendum in 2012, 54 percent said they wanted a status change. Sixty-one percent who answered a second question said they favored statehood, but nearly half a million voters left that question blank, leading many to claim the results weren’t legitimate.

Rafael Nadal wins his 10th opening title in French, dominating Stan Wawrinka

Rafael Nadal wins his 10th opening title in French, dominating Stan Wawrinka

PARIS — Growing up as a prodigy on the Spanish island of Majorca, Rafael Nadal dreamed of winning just one French Open title.

Now he has 10.

Nadal has always been a modest superstar, avoiding public displays of entitlement with the same assiduity that he employs arranging the beverage bottles on the court in front of his chair. But there could be no avoiding the encomiums or the obvious on Sunday as Nadal, after a nervous start, crushed the suspense out of another French Open final against a strong opponent, routing Stan Wawrinka, 6-2, 6-3, 6-1, in 2 hours 5 minutes.

“Rafa, this is one of the most beautiful exploits in the history of sport,” Fabrice Santoro, the former French star turned French Open interviewer, said as he approached Nadal on the court just after his quest for a 10th title — La Décima, in his native Spanish — became a reality.

It is no doubt a sporting achievement for the ages: No other men’s tennis player has won more than seven singles titles at the same Grand Slam event. And it is also surely time for a new favorite number for Nadal.

Once a very promising soccer player, Nadal has long favored the No. 9, traditionally worn by strikers. But the No. 10 is what has kept bringing him joy and fulfillment this spring. He won a record 10th singles title on the clay in Monte Carlo and again in Barcelona.

That he managed it in Paris, too, came as a surprise to no one, certainly not the tournament organizers. After Nadal’s victory, they unfurled a No. 10 banner in the stands high above Court Philippe Chatrier and had a No. 10 painted on the podium. Also at the ready was a highlight video that showed all 10 of his championship points dating to 2005.

“In 2005, I thought in 2017 I’d be fishing on my boat in Majorca,” Nadal said. “Back then, of course, I couldn’t think even for a second that this would ever happen to me.”

Nadal added: “I try my best in all events — that’s the real thing. But the feeling I have here is impossible to describe and difficult to compare to another place. For me, the nerves, the adrenaline that I feel when I play in this court is impossible to compare to another feeling. Just for me, it’s the most important event in my career, without a doubt.”

This was arguably Nadal’s most dominant performance at Roland Garros. It was the third time he won the event without dropping a set, but he lost only 35 games this time — the second fewest by an Open-era men’s champion at a Grand Slam event in which all the matches were best-of-five sets.

Bjorn Borg, the poker-faced Swede who was the best men’s player on clay until Nadal’s ascent, dropped only 32 games en route to the 1978 French Open title.

Sunday’s victory also ended a three-year drought of major titles for Nadal, who won his ninth French Open in 2014 but was then superseded by Novak Djokovic while being slowed both by injuries and by dents to his confidence. Last year, he withdrew from Roland Garros after two rounds because of an inflamed tendon sheath in his left wrist.

That explains, in part, the tears that he shed in his chair after match point on Sunday.

“This tournament is the most important of the year for me, and as you can imagine, when I get here, there are nerves and emotions and the tension is big,” Nadal said. “Also, I know that I have fewer years left to succeed here.”

This season he has undeniably returned to the fore, dropping weight and recovering all the sting in his fearsome forehand, although there is much more to this resurgence than that signature shot. Nadal’s serve was a strength on Sunday, when he faced — and saved — just one break point. His two-handed backhand was decisive, too. He finished with 27 winners and just 12 unforced errors.

Wawrinka, a powerful 32-year-old from Switzerland, simply could not keep up, cracking first in rally after rally.

He had won all three of his previous Grand Slam singles finals. He beat Nadal in the 2014 Australian Open and Djokovic in the 2015 French Open and the 2016 United States Open. But defeating a healthy, confident Nadal on the terre battue of Paris is still one of sport’s greatest challenges.

Nadal is 31. A lesser competitor might have lost his edge long ago, but Nadal is still sliding after drop shots and throwing his body into topspin forehands with the gusto of a younger player.

Much has changed since his first victory at Roland Garros in 2005, the year of his first appearance in the tournament. Back then, Nadal was partial to sleeveless shirts and pirate pants, Court Philippe Chatrier had no aerial camera, and a fan could enter Roland Garros Stadium without being frisked by security officials.

The world is very different, but the men’s game has remained surprisingly resistant to change. Nadal’s career-long rival, Roger Federer, beat him to win the Australian Open in January at age 35. Now Nadal has won another French Open, closing the gap with Federer in the standings for career Grand Slam singles titles.

Federer remains on top with 18. With Sunday’s win, his 15th, Nadal broke a tie with Pete Sampras for second place.

Two-thirds of Nadal’s major titles have come at Roland Garros, where he has an astounding 79-2 record. His only defeats came in the fourth round in 2009 against Robin Soderling and the quarterfinals in 2015 against Djokovic. He has never lost a French Open final, and his 10 victories in Paris make him the first player to win 10 Grand Slam singles titles at the same tournament in the Open era.

Martina Navratilova, the closest equivalent to Nadal, won nine at Wimbledon from 1978 to 1990. Margaret Court’s 11 titles at the Australian Open are the overall record, but seven of those came when it was an amateur event called the Australian Championships.

“It’s a lot of joy, but the work goes on,” Nadal said. “As I like to say, if I can do it, someone else can do it. I don’t like to think of myself as someone special. But you need the right ingredients, the right circumstances to win 10 French Opens.”

What makes Nadal’s 10 titles in Paris all the more remarkable is that they came in a top-heavy era in the men’s game. Federer and Djokovic are excellent on the clay and, if not for Nadal, would surely have won more than just one Roland Garros title apiece.

Nadal has beaten — and often beaten up on — great players to maintain his dominance. But if that dominance continues, one thing is expected to be different.

He has been coached since the beginning by his uncle, Toni Nadal, who gave him his first lesson in Majorca and has remained by his side throughout his career.

But Toni Nadal announced this year that he would stop traveling with his nephew on a full-time basis after this season.

“Without him, not one would be possible,” Nadal said of his uncle.

Neither Nadal could have envisioned 10 titles when they made their first visit to Roland Garros together in 2005. They were both just delighted that the 19-year-old Nadal was in the event.

Now, the tournament now belongs a bit to both of them. For that, too, the French Tennis Federation was prepared. At the trophy ceremony, with Nadal already holding the Coupe des Mousquetaires, his uncle emerged bearing a second trophy: the replica that each victor gets to keep. It had a different inscription.

This one bore Nadal’s name and the phrase “La Décima.”

Not even a gifted child brimming with ambition would have expected to win 10 French Open singles titles. It would have sounded preposterous, but it looked so very logical on Sunday, when Nadal once again had an answer for everything his latest worthy opponent could ask.

Now some gifted child hitting forehands and backhands, in Majorca or somewhere else, knows where to start dreaming.

Tony Awards 2017: 'Cher Evan Hansen' Wins Best Music, 'Oslo' Wins Best Game

Tony Awards 2017: 'Cher Evan Hansen' Wins Best Music, 'Oslo' Wins Best Game


• “Dear Evan Hansen” was the big winner of the night, winning best new musical at the 2017 Tony Awards on Sunday.

• “Oslo,” a crackling drama about the little-known backstory behind the 1993 Middle East peace talks, won the hard-fought competition for best new play.

• The new musical “Come From Away” won a prize for its director Christopher Ashley, while Rebecca Taichman won a directing award for the play “Indecent.”

• Cynthia Nixon, of “Sex and the City” fame, was recognized for her role in “The Little Foxes,” while Laurie Metcalf, best known for “Roseanne,” won for “A Doll’s House, Part 2.”
Continue reading the main story

• The best musical revival prize went to a nostalgic revival of “Hello, Dolly!” starring Bette Midler, who won the best actress award and gave a stem-winding speech in accepting it.

‘Dear Evan Hansen’ wins big

“Dear Evan Hansen,” a daringly unflinching exploration of loss, lies and loneliness in a high school community, on Sunday won the 2017 Tony Award for best new musical, completing its journey from improbable idea to theatrical triumph.

The challenging and cathartic show, about an anxiety-wracked adolescent whose social standing improves when he insinuates himself into the grieving family of a classmate who has killed himself, picked up six awards over the night, including a best leading actor Tony for the twitching-and-tender, talk-of-the-town performance by 23-year-old Ben Platt in the title role.

“To all young people watching at home, don’t waste any time trying to be like anybody but yourself, because the things that make you strange are the things that make you powerful,” Mr. Platt said while accepting his award.

The victory by “Dear Evan Hansen” capped a night when Broadway, which has been booming, spread its top honors across multiple plays and musicals, in contrast to last year, when “Hamilton” swept the board. The ceremony, at Radio City Music Hall, was hosted by Kevin Spacey, who generally stayed away from politics, instead choosing to make fun of his own status as a late-in-the-game and unexpected choice as host.

An exuberantly nostalgic production of “Hello, Dolly!” won the prize for best musical revival, and its adored star, Bette Midler, won as best leading actress in a musical – her first competitive Tony, 50 years after she first stepped onto a Broadway stage in the original production of “Fiddler on the Roof.”

But the night belonged to “Dear Evan Hansen,” which has already made stars not only of Mr. Platt, who previously was best known for appearing in the “Pitch Perfect” films, but also of its young songwriters, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, who are already at work on multiple Hollywood films, and book-writer, Steven Levenson, who recently inked a development deal with 20th Century Fox Television.

In an era when Broadway often means big, “Dear Evan Hansen” is intentionally, insistently intimate – the show has just eight roles and an eight-piece orchestra, and it is being staged in a cozy 984-seat theater. Directed by Michael Greif, “Dear Evan Hansen” is also wholly original – not based on a film, a book, or a song catalog – and is one of the first on Broadway to integrate social media into its depiction of communication and community.

The musical, with Stacey Mindich as its lead producer, was also budgeted tightly – it cost just $9.5 million to bring to Broadway, which is significantly less than most, and should speed its path to profitability.

The show, which began performances at the Music Box Theater last fall, has been doing very well at the box office – it is currently grossing over $1.2 million a week, thanks in part to an average ticket price of $157, and it has succeeded at attracting a relatively youthful audience, which is a rarity on Broadway. A national tour is scheduled to begin in Denver in October, 2018.

Other musicals came up short. “Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812,” the most nominated show of the season, won just two awards, for set and lighting design. “Come From Away,” the Canadian musical about the welcome Newfoundland extended to diverted air travelers after Sept. 11, 2001, won just one: for best direction, by Christopher Ashley. And “Groundhog Day,” an adaptation of the film, was shut out.

‘Oslo’ and ‘Jitney’ win play awards.

A whip-smart and unexpectedly riveting drama illuminating the largely unknown back story behind the 1993 Middle East peace accords won the Tony Award for best new play in a very competitive year.

The play, “Oslo,” was written by J.T. Rogers and presented by Lincoln Center Theater, a nonprofit. One of its performers, Michael Aronov, won the Tony Award for featured actor, for his role as a cocky Israeli negotiator.

“Oslo” defeated an aggressive competitor, “A Doll’s House, Part 2,” which campaigned vigorously for the attention of Tony voters, as well as two plays by Pulitzer Prize winners, “Sweat,” by Lynn Nottage (the play won her a second Pulitzer) and “Indecent,” by Paula Vogel.

All four contenders were by American writers, and marked Broadway debuts for the authors, delighting champions of American playwriting.

In one of the evening’s big surprises, Rebecca Taichman, who conceived of “Indecent” while she was a graduate student, won the Tony for best direction of a play. And, surprising no one, Laurie Metcalf, best known for her role in “Roseanne,” won her first Tony Award for her portrayal of a fiercely independent woman who had walked out on her family years earlier in “A Doll’s House, Part 2.”

Kevin Kline picked up his third Tony Award, for his portrayal of a preening actor in a revival of Noël Coward’s “Present Laughter.” And Cynthia Nixon, an alumna of “Sex and the City,” won her second Tony for her work in a revival of “The Little Foxes.”

“Jitney,” by August Wilson, won best revival of a play. The drama, set in Pittsburgh in 1977, was the last of Wilson’s ten American Century plays to be produced on Broadway; the widely heralded production, which closed in March, was presented by the nonprofit Manhattan Theater Club and directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson, who fought long and hard to get it to Broadway.

An emphasis on comedy, not politics.

The evening’s host, Kevin Spacey, was an unusual choice for an awards show — unlike many of his predecessors (James Corden, Neil Patrick Harris and Hugh Jackman), he is not known as a song-and-dance man. Rather, this two-time Oscar winner has been a riveting television presence portraying an underhanded president, Francis Underwood, in “House of Cards” on Netflix.

But setting aside his dramatic persona to demonstrate his song-and-dance chops, he affectionately mocked the most-admired new musicals on Broadway as he opened the awards.

Distancing himself from hosts of other awards shows in recent months, Mr. Spacey did not focus on national politics, but instead poked fun at his own status as a late-in-the-game and improbable host. He adapted lyrics and set pieces from each of the four shows nominated as best musical. He wore a cast on his arm, much like the title character in “Dear Evan Hansen,” only to turn it into a knee brace, recognizing the injured lead actor in “Groundhog Day.” He cradled an accordion, as did Josh Groban in “The Great Comet ,” and summoned a bizarre chorus line featuring the Rockettes and the cast of “Come From Away.”

None of the shows were particularly razzle-dazzle — in fact, he joked about the serious themes they explored — but that didn’t stop Mr. Spacey, who concluded with a tap dance number. He peppered the second half of the broadcast with impressions of Johnny Carson and Bill Clinton, aiming one of the few political barbs of the night at that former president’s wife, Hillary Clinton.

The most political moment of the evening, however, belonged to Stephen Colbert, who mocked President Trump as he introduced the award for best musical revival.

“It’s been a great year for revivals in general, especially that one they revived down in Washington, D.C.,” Mr. Colbert said. He added, “Huge production values, a couple problems: The main character is totally unbelievable, and the hair and makeup — yeesh. No, no. This D.C. production is supposed to have a four-year run, but reviews have not been kind. Could close early. We don’t know, we don’t know.”

Plenty of song and dance.

The broadcast was full of music: numbers from the four shows nominated for best new musical — “Come From Away,” “Dear Evan Hansen,” “Groundhog Day” and “The Great Comet” — as well as from the three nominated for best musical revival: “Falsettos,” “Hello, Dolly!” and “Miss Saigon.” Two other new musicals performed: “Bandstand” and “War Paint.”

Bette Midler, among the best-known stars of the theater season, did not sing; the producer of “Hello, Dolly!” opted instead to have her co-star, David Hyde Pierce, perform a song from the show. But Ms. Midler made up for it with a filibustering acceptance speech when she won the best musical actress award, insisting that the band stop playing as she thanked multiple collaborators and, in her own inimitable fashion, exuded about her show and poked fun at her own age and even her romantic life (“I’d like to thank all the Tony voters, many of whom I’ve actually dated,” she said.)

For Ms. Midler, who first performed on Broadway in 1967 when she joined the replacement cast of “Fiddler on the Roof,” the Tony win was gratifying: it was her first in a competitive category. (She won a special Tony in 1974 “for adding luster to the Broadway season.”)

“Dolly” also won a prize for Gavin Creel as featured actor for his portrayal of an impish Yonkers feed store clerk.