May 27, 2019

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Adam Levine leaves 'The Voice' after 16 seasons: 'What an amazing ride'

The Voice coach Adam Levine is leaving the NBC reality competition after 16 seasons.

The 40-year-old singer and television personality reflected and gave thanks in an Instagram post Friday following news Gwen Stefani will replace him as coach in Season 17.

"About 8 years ago, Mark Burnett convinced us to sign for this show where you sit in a big red chair with your back turned away from the singers on the stage. First thank you must go to Mark," Levine wrote. "It went on to be a life shaping experience that will be close to my heart forever."

"Thank you NBC for signing me up. I am truly honored to have been a part of something I'll always cherish for the rest of my life," he added. "Thank you to every single coach I ever sat in those chairs with. That is shared experience that is singularly ours. We have that for life."

The Maroon 5 frontman gave a special shoutout to Blake Shelton, his fellow coach and friendly rival on the show.

"I couldn't hide my love for you if I tried. Seriously. I tried. Can't do it. Our friendship is and always will be one for the books. Whatever this whole surreal experience was, Im just happy I got to experience it with you. You're my brother for life," he gushed.

Levine ended by thanking The Voice fans and his late manager, Jordan Feldstein.

"And lastly, to all of the loyal voice fans, there's literally no show without you guys. For me, it was time to move on. Your support has meant EVERYTHING," the star said.

"And Lastly, I'd like to thank my manager Jordan for convincing me to take that meeting. What an amazing ride. Thank you all so much," he concluded.

Shelton and fellow coach Kelly Clarkson were among those to react to Levine's departure online.

"Having a hard time wrapping my head around @adamlevine not being at @NBCTheVoice anymore. After 16 seasons that changed both ours lives. I only found out about this yesterday and it hasn't set in on me yet. Gonna miss working with that idiot," Shelton wrote on Twitter.

Having a hard time wrapping my head around @adamlevine not being at @NBCTheVoice anymore. After 16 seasons that changed both of ours lives. I only found out about this yesterday and it hasn't set in on me yet. Gonna miss working with that idiot.- Blake Shelton (@blakeshelton) May 24, 2019

"Found out last night about @adamlevine leaving The Voice & while I get that he's been doing the show 4 a while & wants to step away, it will be weird showing up 4 work & he's not there," Clarkson added. "To start an amazing show from the ground up is a big deal!"

The Voice host Carson Daly had announced Levine's departure during Friday's episode of Today.

"After 16 seasons, Adam Levine, our beloved coach and friend, has decided to leave The Voice," Daly said.

"Adam was one of the original coaches that launched the show, winning the competition three times and inspiring many of the artists he worked so closely with," he added. "He'll always be a cherished member of The Voice family."

After 16 seasons, @adamlevine has decided to leave @NBCTheVoice and @gwenstefani will take his place in the chair for season 17! pic.twitter.com/dpsb0qhqZu- TODAY (@TODAYshow) May 24, 2019

Gwen Stefani will join Shelton, Clarkson and John Legend as a coach in Season 17. Stefani, who is dating Shelton, previously served as coach in Seasons 7, 9 and 12.

Levine won The Voice three times -- with Javier Colon in Season 1, Tessanne Chin in Season 5 and Jordan Smith in Season 9. Legend, a first-time coach, and Maelyn Jarmon won Season 16 this week.

Levine is the frontman of the pop rock band Maroon 5, which released its sixth studio album, Red Pill Blues, in November 2017. He is parent to two daughters, Dusty Rose and Gio Grace, with his wife, model Behati Prinsloo.

LOOSE LIPS:

"There's a device used for this specific necklace and at the end of the night, I had to have her there to take it off ... So before they took the jewelry off, I was like, 'I know this is weird, but can you take a picture of me in the bathtub?' It was a woman, so I felt fine about that, but she thought I was really weird ... but she nailed it. I got the photo."
--Lily Collins, on the Cartier necklace she wore to the Met Gala having its own security team and how they helped with her annual tradition of posing in her full ensemble in a bathtub post-gala, on The Late Late Show with James Corden

??? Guess Who ???

Which 'Game of Thrones' star turned down 'Fifty Shades' to avoid nudity?

'Sonic the Hedgehog' movie delayed until February 2020

Paramount's upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog movie has been delayed until Feb. 14, 2020, director Jeff Fowler announced on Twitter Friday.

"Taking a little more time to make Sonic just right. #novfxartistswereharmedinthemakingofthismovie," Fowler said alongside artwork of Sonic's hand holding up a sign with the new release date.

Sonic the Hedgehog, a live-action film based on the Sega video game franchise of the same name, was originally set to hit theaters on Nov. 8.

A trailer was released in April featuring Sonic (voiced by Ben Schwartz) taking on the villainous Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey). James Marsden and Tika Sumpter also star.

Taking a little more time to make Sonic just right.#novfxartistswereharmedinthemakingofthismovie pic.twitter.com/gxhu9lhU76- Jeff Fowler (@fowltown) May 24, 2019

The delay comes after Fowler recently announced on Twitter that Sonic's design in the film would be changed following fan backlash. The trailer debuted a new look for Sonic which included different shaped eyes and muscular legs.

"Thank you for the support. And the criticism. The message is loud and clear...you aren't happy with the design & you want changes. It's going to happen. Everyone at Paramount & Sega are fully committed to making this character the BEST he can be...#sonicmovie #gottafixfast," Fowler said at the time.

Richard Ashcroft says 'Bitter Sweet Symphony' legal battle is over

Richard Ashcroft says his legal battle over "Bitter Sweet Symphony" has come to a close.

The 47-year-old British singer celebrated in a press release Thursday after obtaining songwriter royalties and rights to the song, which his former band The Verve released in 1997.

Rolling Stones members Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were previously assigned rights to "Bitter Sweet Symphony" following a legal dispute in 1997. The song features an orchestral cover of the Rolling Stones song "The Last Time."

"It gives me great pleasure to announce as of last month Mick Jagger and Keith Richards agreed to give me their share of the song Bitter Sweet Symphony," Ashcroft said in the release.

"This remarkable and life affirming turn of events was made possible by a kind and magnanimous gesture from Mick and Keith, who have also agreed that they are happy for the writing credit to exclude their names and all their royalties derived from the song they will now pass to me," he confirmed.

"I would like to thank the main players in this, my management Steve Kutner and John Kenney, the Stones manager Joyce Smyth and Jody Klein (for actually taking the call) lastly a huge unreserved heartfelt thanks and respect to Mick and Keith," the star added. "Music is power."

Ashcroft had signed away his rights and royalties to "Bitter Sweet Symphony" during a legal battle with Abkco, which published "The Last Time." He said in a statement to Variety he paid "a huge emotional price" in surrendering the song.

"Richard has endured that loss for many years," the statement reads. "A few months ago, his management decided to pursue a strategy ... They decided to appeal to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards directly to try regain the song for Richard to the extent it was within their power to do so."

"Mick and Keith immediately, unhesitatingly and unconditionally agreed to this request," the statement says. "Incredibly generously and as an indication of what great artists and men they are they have agreed that to the extent it is within their power they have given Richard his song back."

"Bitter Sweet Symphony" appears on The Verve's album Urban Hymns, which debuted in September 1997. Ashcroft released his fifth solo album, Natural Rebel, in October.

??? Guess Who ???

Which 'Game of Thrones' star turned down 'Fifty Shades' to avoid nudity?

Emilia Clarke turned down the Fifty Shades movies to avoid appearing nude onscreen.

The 32-year-old British actress said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter published Thursday she passed on Anastasia Steele, Dakota Johnson's role in the film series, because she already felt "pigeonholed" by her nudity on Game of Thrones.

"Well, [director] Sam [Taylor-Johnson] is a magician. I love her, and I thought her vision was beautiful. But the last time that I was naked on camera on [Game of Thrones] was a long time ago, and yet it is the only question that I ever get asked because I am a woman," Clarke explained.

"It's annoying as hell and I'm sick and tired of it because I did it for the character," she said of her Game of Thrones character, Daenerys Targaryen. "So, that coming up, I was like, 'I can't.'"

Clarke said the amount of focus on her Game of Thrones nudity made her especially reluctant to appear in the Fifty Shades films, which are based on E.L. James' erotic novels.

"I did a minimal amount and I'm pigeonholed for life, so me saying yes to that, where the entire thing is about sensuality and sex and being naked and all of that stuff, I was just like, 'No way am I going to voluntarily walk into that situation and then never be able to look someone in the eye and be like, 'No, you can't keep asking me this question,'" she said.

Clarke previously discussed Fifty Shades in the July 2015 issue of Marie Claire U.K.

"I'll never say, 'I'm never doing nudity' because I've already done it, but I thought I might get stuck in a pigeonhole that I would have struggled to get out of," she explained.

Game of Thrones ended Sunday after an eight-season run on HBO. Clarke told THR she hopes to find a new project without potential sequels.

"One thing I would not like to do is something that would have a sequel. Something that could have, like, 'And then two and then three and four,'" she said. "I'd like to not do one of those for a minute."

Clarke will next appear in an adaptation of the Joe Sharkey book Above Suspicion.