Hollywood Week: Conan Talks Oscar Gig, Gene Hackman Estate, Columbine Death Toll Climbs

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Category: Entertainment News

Published on Saturday, 15 March 2025 12:27

Written by Janet Walker

Conan O'Brien, who received raves as a first time Oscar host is dishing the behind-the-scenes efforts, rehearsals, rewrites, and um, meetings, that it took to bring to life the entertainment industry's biggest night of the year.   

Conan O'Brien Dishes on Oscars

As Conan and his team, take to his podcast, "Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend," to talk on the Academy Awards, we begin to understand the timeline of events, which included the death of both his parents, and the unfathomable devastation caused by the January California wildfires, and how he, and he credits his team, was able to compartmentalize each of the derailing events and handle the business at hand, which was hosting the entertainment industry's biggest night. No pressure or anything.

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He explains on his podcast, that hosting the Oscars was not even on his radar when he got the call and he immediately called Mike Sweeney, his head writer for 30 years, who was also on the podcast and jumping in with his remembrances of "laughing for a long time."

For the majority of the 19.5 million home viewers, the behind-the-scenes months of prep, even without the extenuating circumstances, are rarely thought of, and it comes down to whether the show was good or not good. Fortunately, this year, the show was good.  

Of course, like a good movie hooking the audience in the first minutes is critical, so the cold opening was important, and he explains, "It was the idea that, 'Oh, Conan's now going to goof on all the movies." [ . . .] "It starts with me and I'm in Wicked and I'm all green, finishing 'Defying Gravity' or one of those songs. And I finish it and then you cut to the next thing, which is Gladiator II and 'clang, clang, clang' with swords and you see that I'm a gladiator but then you notice that I'm still green. And then you go on to Conclave and you see people voting with their ballots and one of the hands is still green," Deadline reported.

As this was an early idea, the LA Wildfires changed the tone of the opening, and although he did goof on "The Substance," the inspirational "Wicked" medley by Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo was soul-stirring.

Conan also talked about the, um, meetings with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences officials on the presentation of Oscar. As first-timers to the Academy Awards, the reverence and sacredness of Oscar was new to the New Yorkers. Sweeney explains the "whisperings," in the room when they pitched the idea of Conan and Oscar as a domestic partner for the Oscar promo. When that idea faltered, they explained they went on to another idea of Oscar in an apron.

Finally, they explain they were told there are certain rules when it comes to the presentation of the Oscar, you can almost hear the late Maggie Smith as the Mother Superior in "Sister Act," explain, with a ruler in her hand, "Oscar will not be horizontal, Oscar will not be in an apron," and the pair replying "Yes, Ma'am." Which as they explain on the podcast was close to the events. Conan also credits comedian and joke writer Sklar Hingley with the Drake joke.

By the end of the episode, there is a new appreciation for Conan, his resilience, and his dedication to making the biggest night in entertainment a success for everyone.

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Hackman Estate Petitions Court for Privacy

The investigation into the mystery surrounding the deaths of two-time Academy Award winner Gene Hackman, 95, and his wife, Betsey Arakawa's, 65, has reached a probable conclusion, which indicates Hackman, who had co-morbidities including cognitive deterioration, died one week after his wife, who authorities believed died of hantavirus caused by contact with rodent droppings.

"Authorities confirmed last week that Hackman died of heart disease with complications from Alzheimer's disease about a week after a rare, rodent-borne disease — hantavirus pulmonary syndrome — took the life of his wife. Hackman, in the advanced stages of Alzheimer's, apparently was unaware that his wife was dead," APnews.com reported.

The Hackman Estate has petitioned the court to stop the release of autopsy photos of the late actor, and his wife, and any body camera footage captured when the officers entered the home on February 26, 2025. It is estimated Hackman died on February 18, 2025, and his wife, February 11, 2025.

Hackman's date of death was easier to estimate due to his pacemaker, which indicated his last event, meaning regulation need, was on February 18. Individuals who wear pacemakers are generally discouraged from wearing any type of magnetic medical alert bracelet, as they can interfere with the function of the pacemaker. So, after Hackman fell, if he was not gravely in the fall, his declining mental acuteness would hinder his ability to summon emergency assistance.

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The Estate of both Hackman and Arakawa has petitioned that photographs or videos be sealed due to the media interest and the state in which the bodies were found and any other shocking discoveries. Essentially, allowing the dead to rest in peace.

Hackman lived in the artist enclave of Santa Fe, New Mexico. "New Mexico's open records law blocks public access to sensitive images, including depictions of people who are deceased, said Amanda Lavin, legal director at the nonprofit New Mexico Foundation for Open Government. Some medical information also is not considered public record under the state Inspection of Public Records Act," reported The Washington Post.

Children Question Estate

While the mystery into Hackman's death may be clearing, the business of death and the disbursement of his $80 million dollar fortune, may be just beginning. According to media sources, Hackman had not updated his estate planning in 25 years. His estate at the time passed to his wife, Betsey. Her estate, should she precede him in death, would have passed to him. They each had a codicil to their wills, which stated, if they die within 90 days of each other, their deaths would be considered simultaneous.

Simultaneous death is a legal term used when it is impossible to determine a timeline of death, or the order of deaths. As an order has been established the "Simultaneous death" codicil may be nullified.

Hackman named Arakawa has his sole heir, and her assets were left in trust and designated to charities. Hackman's three children, from his first marriage, were not listed in the estate.

"Due to Arakawa's death — which preceded Hackman's by one week — the money likely will still be passed to his kids, whom he shared with his late ex-wife, Faye Maltese. However, given the uncertainty of Hackman's beneficiaries, there could be a legal battle brewing between Christopher, who reportedly has hired a high-powered attorney, and his two sisters," reported Yahoo.com.

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Columbine Massacre Claims Another Victim

The April 20, 1999, Columbine High School Massacre that killed 13 and injured 24, has claimed another victim, Anne Marie Hochhalter, 43, who was found dead in her home, February 16, 2025.

Hochhalter was 17, in 1999, a high school senior at Columbine, when two teens, Dylan Klebold, 17, and Eric Harris, 18, walked into the school's cafeteria and beginning shooting and in the process murdered 12 students and a teacher.

Hochhalter, who explained she had stepped outside for some fresh air, described the shooting saying, "she heard a popping noise and suddenly felt something strike her back, she told PEOPLE in 2004. She was hurt but initially believed it was from a paintball gun. As a friend helped her, she was struck again by a bullet, which this time hit a vein."

The injuries left her paralyzed unable to walk, and with a lifetime of medical issues, and complications from the injuries resulting from the trauma, which according to the medical examiner directly contributed to her cause of death.

Hochhalter's homicide death ruling, 26 years later, isn't the first time an injured shooting victim's death has been attributed to the predicate act which preceded the medical complications.

Former Press Secretary James Brady, who was shot during an assassination attempt of President Ronald Reagan, on March 30, 1981, died 33 years later, at the age of 73, and the medical examiner ruled his death a homicide caused by the gunshot wound he sustained during the assassination attempt.  

Janet Walker is the publisher, founder, and sole owner of Haute-Lifestyle.com. A graduate of New York University, she has been covering international news through the Beltway Insider, a weekly review of the nation's top stories, for more than a decade.  A general beat writer/reporter and entertainment/film critic, she is also an accomplished news/investigative news/crime reporter and submitted for Pulitzer Prize consideration "Cops Conspire to Deep Six Sex Assaults" in the Breaking News Category and was persuaded to withdraw the submission. Ms. Walker has completed five screenplays, "The Six Sides of Truth," "The Assassins of Fifth Avenue," "The Wednesday Killer," "The Manhattan Project," and the sci-fi thriller "Project 13: The Last Day." She is a member of the Los Angeles Press Club, the National Writers Union, and a former member of the International Federation of Journalists.