Rhode Island
Flickers’ Rhode Island Film Festival gives preview of Oscars short film nominees
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WJAR) — Flickers’ Rhode Island Film Festival gave Southern New Englanders a taste of the Oscars Friday night.
They held a special screening of the four short films that are currently nominated.
Those included Jane Austen’s Period Drama, Retirement Plan, Butterfly, and Forever Green.
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More information of the festival can be found here.
Which ‘Real Housewives of Rhode Island’ stars want to do Season 2?
Reporter Paul Edward Parker asks cast members of the “Real Housewives of Rhode Island” if they’re up for another season of the Bravo TV show.
Paul Edward Parker
It was in a Rhode Island court that “The Real Housewives of Rhode Island” heated up as a Cranston woman sued the husband of one of the cast members for slander.
The legal fireworks started April 13, when Brian Pontarelli, husband of “Real Housewife” star Rulla Nehme Pontarelli, sued Beth Walker of Cranston in Superior Court, alleging that she violated a confidentiality agreement in another lawsuit by “making public statements and social media posts” about facts related to the earlier lawsuit.
On Tuesday, May 5, Walker fired back, calling the confidentiality agreement illegal and unenforceable, saying that Pontarelli broke it first by talking on “Real Housewives,” and filing a countersuit saying that he made false, “defamatory and disparaging” comments on the “Real Housewives” main show, as well as during a podcast and an after-show live broadcast. She is seeking unspecified damages.
A past affair, current speculation and a national audience feed lawsuit
Walker particularly identifies the April 26 episode of “Watch What Happens Live,” when host Andy Cohen brings back stars from the show, which was taped last year, for further discussion. In this episode, Brian and Rulla talk about how their marriage has survived his cheating with another woman.
One of the subplots of “The Real Housewives of Rhode Island,” which is midway through its first season, is whether or not the affair Brian had is still ongoing. Texts and social media posts by an unnamed woman, whom the cast refers to as “the mistress,” feature in several episodes.
What Beth Walker has to say
Reached by The Providence Journal on Wednesday afternoon, May 6, Walker’s lawyer, Frank L. Orabona Jr., said that she can’t tell her side of the story right now.
“A public narrative has been created around my client, but narrative and facts are not always the same thing,” Orabona said. “As this unfolds, the evidence will tell a very different story.”
Post-show discussion and podcast fuel drama in court
In the April 26 “Watch What Happens Live” episode, in which Walker’s suit says Pontarelli “discussed a romantic relationship … in a defamatory and disparaging manner,” Rulla and Brian talk about his affair with “the mistress,” also referring to her as “the cockroach.”
Walker’s Tuesday filing also served as her answer to Pontarelli’s suit, and she asked the court to toss his claim based on 16 separate grounds.
Among other things, Walker’s filing says:
- “Walker’s speech relates to topics of public concern being discussed weekly to a nationwide audience of millions of viewers.”
- “Any comments made by Walker were truthful, not disparaging, related to matters in the public domain and/or were made in good faith.”
- “As a result of the national publicity of the show, information related to [Pontarelli’s] personal, romantic relationships is public knowledge nationally across the United States and locally in communities throughout Rhode Island; and is otherwise in the public domain.”
- “It is inequitable and unfair to allow [Pontarelli] a national platform to discuss topics to a coast-to-coast audience and prohibit Walker from speaking on the same topics and/or from correcting false information being spread by [Pontarelli] or others.”
- Prohibiting her from commenting would violate the state and federal constitutions’ guarantee of free speech.
No hearings have been scheduled in the case.
Pontarelli’s lawyer, Jessica L. Basso, declined to comment on the case.
This story has been updated with new information.
(WPRI) — The last few weeks have been lucky for Rhode Island lottery players, including a Cranston man who won a $50,000 Powerball prize.
The Rhode Island Lottery said the lucky winner bought his ticket at the Shaw’s Supermarket on Chapel View Boulevard in Cranston for the drawing on April 25.
In that same drawing, someone won a $2 million Powerball prize, but no one has come forward to claim the money yet. That winning ticket was purchased at the Seasons Corner Market on Old Louisquisset Pike in Lincoln.
In Providence, a man won $30,000 through the Mega Multiplier Instant Game after he had a dream about playing the lottery and decided to buy a ticket. He bought that winning ticket at Three Ring Liquors on Plainfield Street. The man said he is planning to share his winnings with his family.
Another lucky lottery player won $25,000 playing The Numbers on April 27. The Lincoln man bought his ticket at the Twin River Mini Mart on Douglas Pike in Smithfield.
A North Providence woman also won big, claiming a $17,760 prize after playing the RI 250 Instant Game. She told lottery officials that she plans to use her winnings to take a trip. She bought her ticket at the Shaw’s Supermarket on Smithfield Road in North Providence.
Whoever won the $2 million Powerball Prize will have until April 29, 2027, to claim their winnings. You can check the winning Powerball numbers here.
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