Jeff Danziger lives in New York City. He is represented by CWS Syndicate and the Washington Post Writers Group. He is the recipient of the Herblock Prize and the Thomas Nast (Landau) Prize. He served in the US Army in Vietnam and was awarded the Bronze Star and the Air Medal. He has published eleven books of cartoons, a novel and a memoir. Visit him at DanzigerCartoons.
Georgia legislators have passed a so-called “heartbeat bill” that would ban abortion beyond six weeks, and Gov. Brian Kemp appears prepared to sign the legislation into law this week.
But doing so might be costly for the state.
The Peach State has long been a go-to location for Hollywood filmmakers, but the abortion ban has stirred opposition among many big names in the entertainment industry. Actor and producer Alyssa Milano collected signatures for a letter pledging to boycott work that would bring them to Georgia if the bill becomes law.
To @BrianKempGA & Speaker Ralston:
Attached, is an open letter signed by 50 actors against #HB481. On behalf of the undersigned–as people often called to work in GA or those of us contractually bound to work in GA–we hope you'll reconsider signing this bill. #HBIsBadForBusiness pic.twitter.com/DsOmAWYU2x— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) March 28, 2019
Other groups, including the Writers Guild of America, embraced the boycott sparked by Milano as well. As CBS News reported, other state governors are stepping up to poach the filmmaking business if Georgia triggers the boycott.
Stacey Abrams, who lost the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial election to Kemp in a contentious and dubious election in which he oversaw the vote as secretary of state, warned about the risks of imposing limits on women’s reproductive rights:
Georgia is the only international film hub threatening to limit a woman’s access to care. This hasn’t been an issue before because LA, NYC, Vancouver & Toronto know better. Trust women & their doctors. And tread carefully: https://t.co/95djjqtyTG #gapol #HB481isBadForBusiness
— Stacey Abrams (@staceyabrams) March 26, 2019
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Debbie Reynolds, a leading lady in Hollywood musicals and comedies in the 1950s and 1960s, including Singin’ in the Rain, died on Wednesday, her son said, just one day after the death of her daughter, actress Carrie Fisher.
Reynolds, 84, an Oscar-nominated singer-actress, was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Hospital earlier on Wednesday,
“It’s true, she’s with Carrie,” her son, Todd Fisher, told Reuters, adding that shortly before suffering a stroke Reynolds had said she missed her daughter and wanted to be with her.
“She left very shortly after that and those were the last words she spoke,” Todd Fisher said.
After the news of Reynolds’ death, numerous people took to social media and wrote that “she died of a broken heart.”
One of the most enduring and endearing Hollywood stars of her time, Reynolds received a best actress Academy Award nomination for the 1964 musical The Unsinkable Molly Brown.
Carrie Fisher, who rose to fame as Princess Leia in the Star Wars films and later battled through drug addiction before going on to tell her story as a best-selling author, died on Tuesday at age 60 after suffering a heart attack last Friday.
After Fisher’s death, Reynolds said on Facebook, “Thank you to everyone who has embraced the gifts and talents of my beloved and amazing daughter. I am grateful for your thoughts and prayers that are now guiding her to her next stop.”
Reynolds had been in frail health in the past year, and she missed a dinner in November 2015 to receive an honorary Oscar. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said at the time that she was unable to attend because of “an unexpectedly long recovery from recent surgery.”
The nature of her illness was not disclosed. Fisher told reporters in May 2016 that her mother was “doing really well,” but she did not give details.
(Reporting by Will Dunham in Washington, D.C., Jill Serjeant in New York, Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles, Ben Klayman in Detroit, and Jon Herskovitz in Austin, Texas; Editing by Sandra Maler and Leslie Adler)
IMAGE: FILE PHOTO: Actress Debbie Reynolds (L) and her daughter Carrie Fisher (R) arrive at the 2011 Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards in Los Angeles September 10, 2011. REUTERS/Danny Moloshok/File Photo
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