RAY LIOTTA died in his sleep yesterday in the Dominican Republic, where he was filming a movie. He was 67. No word on the cause of death. His movies include “Goodfellas”, “Field of Dreams”, “Cop Land”, “Unlawful Entry”, “Something Wild”, and “Blow”.

Two big deaths to report from the music world: Andy Fletcher from Depeche Mode and Yes drummer Alan White have both passed away. There’s no word on the cause of death for either. Fletcher was 60, White was 72.

JON HAMM explained how you’re supposed to act when you meet the Royal Family. It includes greeting them as “Your Royal Highness” and NOT by their names, and bowing, but not offering your hand unless they do so first.

On her final show yesterday, ELLEN DEGENERES said, quote, “I hope that . . . I was able to take a little bit of pain away from a bad day or anything you’re going through. I hope I’ve been able to inspire you to make other people happy and to do good in the world. To feel like you have a purpose.”

JASON BATEMAN says if the cameras continued to roll on “Ozark”, the characters would either be dead or in prison. At the same time, though, he says he’d return in a second, because the show was so fun to make.

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE just sold his catalog for a reported $100 million. The head of the company that bought it says younger artists are starting to sell so they have the freedom to do what they want, not just what’ll make money.

DIERKS BENTLEY and ELLE KING will be hosting this year’s “CMA Fest: The Music Event of the Summer”. The three-hour concert special will air August 3rd on ABC.

There was an event called “Star Wars” Celebration yesterday, and here’s what we learned: “Indiana Jones 5” is coming out in June of 2023 . . . the trailer for the new “Willow” looks pretty awesome . . . and JUDE LAW is starring in a new series called “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew”.

JACK BLACK will receive the Comedic Genius Award at the “MTV Movie and TV Awards”.

This weekend, Tom Cruise has a chance to do something he’s never done before — open a film to more than $100 million at the domestic box office. He has never had a film open to more than $65 million. After several pandemic-related delays, “Top Gun: Maverick” arrives with a 97% “Fresh” rating from Rotten Tomatoes and strong presale tickets.

After singing ‘Complicated’ with Avril Lavigne last month in Toronto, Olivia Rodrigo once again paid tribute to her musical roots on Wed., bringing out Alanis Morissette at LA’s Greek Theatre for a duet on ‘You Oughta Know’. Afterward, Rodrigo said: “That’s truly the craziest thing that ever happened to me.”

Drake is a certified lover of Haim. In an Instagram post, he shared a photo from his first time meeting the 3 sisters, with the caption: “Just met the Beatles.” Haim shared the photo, jokingly writing: “We’re the Beatles.”

Paula Abdul says she plans to do “something big” for her upcoming 60th birthday. The former “American Idol” judge will mark the milestone on June 19 and although she hasn’t finalized her party plans, she’s considering chartering a yacht or whisking her friends off on an exotic holiday. Then, she reconsidered, and joked: “Knowing me, I’ll stay home with my dogs.”

Nick Jonas has confirmed that he his brothers are working on new music. He was asked about it during an interview with Kelly Clarkson and said, “I can tell you I think it’s my favorite stuff we’ve ever done. It’s basically an evolution of the sound in a way I think is really natural for us and feels like a great next step.” He told her the new Jonas Brothers songs will feature some exciting unnamed collaborators.

Machine Gun Kelly wanted Drake to be in his new movie, but couldn’t afford him. Drake’s travel expense of booking a private jet from Toronto to LA was “the whole movie budget.” It was more economical to just get an actor to play Drake.

Jodie Foster is set to play Detective Liz Danvers in the fourth iteration of HBO’s “True Detective”, titled “Night Country”. Jodie will also be an executive producer on the series.