The dish: Pop culture news and notes

March 8, 2014 at 8:00PM
Director Steve McQueen poses in the press room with the award for best picture for "12 Years a Slave" during the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday, March 2, 2014, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
* Steve McQueen (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Oscars post mortem

A dispute over the screenplay credit is said to be at the root of the cold shoulder between "12 Years a Slave" director Steve McQueen and Oscar-winning writer John Ridley. Conspicuously, neither mentioned the other in his acceptance speech. Co-producer Brad Pitt reportedly is trying the mediate the feud, perhaps with help from his humanitarian friend Angelina Jolie. … Robert Lopez, co-writer of "Let It Go," is the youngest EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) winner, achieved within a record 10 years.

Just checking in

Seth Meyers spent his first free Saturday watching — what else? — "SNL." "It was really fun for me to have that excitement that a viewer has of not knowing what's coming up next," he said. … The second season of the Netflix series "Orange Is the New Black" will debut in its entirety on June 6.Kyle Chandler, Linda Cardellini and Sissy Spacek will star in an untitled family drama for Netflix. … Megaproducer Timbaland has signed on as music guru for the upcoming Fox series "Empire," described as "King Lear" set in the world of hip-hop.

'Noah' problem

Paramount has changed the marketing materials for "Noah" without notifying Darren Aronofsky, the director claims. He said he's "not happy" about disclaimers added last week after conversations with religious leaders. … Colin Firth voices "Paddington" in a film (out Dec. 12) that features a who's who of British stars, including Sally Hawkins, Hugh Bonne-ville, Jim Broadbent and Julie Walters.

CYNTHIA DICKISON

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