The Walking Dead Casting Shocker: Wait... Who"s Leaving?!?

A major cast member is set to make a run from The Walking Dead.

And it’s not hyperbole to say the show will never be the same after he’s gone.

A multitude of sources has confirmed to Us Weekly that series star Andrew Lincoln will leave the blockbuster drama after its upcoming ninth season.

In fact, he’ll only appearin six of the scheduled Season 9 episodes.

Why would Lincoln depart such a successful program?

For starters, most fans believe the best days of The Walking Dead are far behind this AMC hit, as both quality and ratings have dropped significantly in recent years.

Moreover, Lincoln has both a personal reason and a professional reason for making this decision at this time.

“Andrew is leaving because he’s had enough of it and wants to focus his energy on movies,” an insider close to Lincoln tells the aforementioned tabloid.

Lincoln, of course, got his truly big break in the romantic comedy Love Actually.

To many people, even still, he’s the guy who held up signs of affection for Keira Knightley’s character in that beloved holiday film, not the guy who splatters zombie guts all over the place on a weekly basis.

AMC is not expected to cancel its most-watched show in the wake of Lincoln’s departure, however.

A source tells Us Weekly that Lincoln’s costar, Norman Reedus, has negotiated a $ 20 million paycheck to stay on.

The Walking Dead is known for major cast turnover, having killed off numerous original characters since its debut.

Just last season, many viewers reacted in shock and anger when Rick’s son Carl, played by Chandler Riggs, lost his life.

But Lincoln has portrayed Rick Grimes since the very beginning and it’s hard to imagine the series without him front and center.

It’s also worth mentioning that Lauren Cohan, who plays Maggie, will be starring in the new ABC drama Whiskey Cavalier, and will therefore only return to The Walking next season on a part-time basis.

The end may truly be near for this long-running smash.

Following the Season 8 finale, Lincoln opened up to Entertainment Weekly about what’s next for Grimes after he took out down Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Negan.

“I think there is always going to be a sense of he’s lost all of the most important parts of himself, and yet he has the legacy and gift that Carl gave him that is going to fuel his ambitions for the future,” the actor said, adding:

“He’s got a renewed purpose because of this and because of his son. So it’s absolutely a new man.

This is the man who couldn’t see what Deanna saw about the future and still couldn’t see it for a long, long time even throughout all of this and the battle he was hell-bent on vengeance.”

No word yet on just how Rick will be written off the show.

But let’s be serious, right?

We somehow doubt he’ll stroll happily into the sunset.

Will you keep watching The Walking Dead after Lincoln departs?

View Slideshow: The Walking Dead Cast: Before They Were Stars…

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UFC"s Max Holloway Says He "Can"t Wait" to Fight "Animal" Khabib Nurmagomedov

UFC star Max Holloway is stepping in to fight arguably the scariest dude on planet, Khabib Nurmagomedov, on 6 DAYS NOTICE … and he’s somehow super chill about it! Max got interviewed at the airport on his way outta Hawaii … and he made it clear…

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The Crown Controversy: Wait... Claire Foy Earned HOW MUCH?!?

The Crown may be the most critically-beloved show on all of Netflix.

But the drama is being roasted left and right at the moment for a reason that has nothing to do with what you see on screen…

And everything to do with something that happened off screen.

During a panel discussion about the series at the INTV Conference in Jerusalem on Tuesday, producers acknowledged a discrepancy between the salaries of its two stars, Claire Foy and Matt Smith.

The former portrayed Queen Elizabeth, while the latter takes on the role of her husband, Prince Philip.

Asked directly whether Foy was paid the same as Smith, producer Suzanne Mackie surprised those in attendance by answering in the negative.

No salary figures were discussed, but Mackie admitted Smith earned more for his two seasons of work than Foy.

“Going forward,” she then noted. “No one gets paid more than the Queen.”

This change, however, will not benefit Foy, earned earned an Emmy Award for her work on Season 1.

Due to a time jump for Season 3, Olivia Colman will step in as the Queen.

(Helena Bonham-Carter will play Princess Margaret and Netflix has not yet confirmed which actor will portray Prince Philip.)

In light of the ongoing #MeToo movement and the important conversation surrounding how women are treated in Hollywood, this salary difference has become a source of disgust and debate on social media.

Yes, Smith was a better known star when the series started shooting, having established himself for multiple seasons as the titular character on Dr. Who.

But Foy played THE QUEEN HERSELF on a show about… THE QUEEN.

Moreover, Foy simply appeared on screen a significant amount of time more than Smith over the show’s first two seasons.

Earlier this year, it was disclosed that Michelle Williams was paid a fraction of what her All The Money In The World co-star Mark Wahlberg earned for reshooting sections of the film.

As in: Williams was paid $ 80 per day and Wahlberg was paid $ 1.5 million total.

Once word of this discrepancy leaked out, Wahlberg agreed to donate that entire sum to charity.

The third season of The Crown, which begins filming in July, will move into the Camilla Parker Bowles years; it will also introduce a young Princess Diana.

“Those are going to be extraordinary, those episodes,” said Mackie.

But will fans keep tuning in, now that viewer favorite Foy is no longer a part of the cast?

And will this scandal have any long-term affect on the success of the series?

Mackie didn’t address these concerns or questions, instead joking around a bit when considering where else The Crown may go.

Like into very modern times, perhaps?

“I want to see an episode where [Donald Trump] comes to Buckingham Palace,” the producer said.

As for Meghan Markle?

“She can play herself.”

We’d be down with that. But Markle better get paid more than Trump for her appearance!

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Kylie Jenner: Wait... Has She Already Given Birth?!?

As it turns out, nature is not the only thing that abhors a vacuum.

The same can be said for fans of Kylie Jenner.

Over the past several weeks, the 20-year old reality star has remained far quieter than usual on social media.

Her typical array of scantily-clad photos have been replaced by… well… pretty much nothing at all, as she waits to give birth to her first child some time in late February or early March.

So sources have claimed, at least.

Kylie herself has not said a word about her pregnancy.

In response to Jenner’s silence, followers have had to form their own theories or conjure up their own ideas about what’s going on.

Some have wondered whether Kylie was so distraught over this news that she considered an abortion.

Others have speculated that she’s actually the surrogate for Kim Kardashian and Kanye West that that explains Jenner’s silence on the issue.

And still others think this is pretty simple:

Kylie has made a living by showing off her body; now that said body looks different and, let’s face it, fatter… she’s simply ashamed and has basically gone into hiding.

This may be true.

But a few folks out there think something else is true: KYLIE ALREADY HAD HER BABY!

How could this be?

Why would Kylie have given birth in secret?

It’s unclear.

But at least one Internet user alleges to have uncovered proof that Jenner is, indeed, already a mother.

We should warn you, however: this is rather flimsy “proof.”

It’s more akin to a crazy hypothesis with no supporting evidence, but whatever. This is the World Wide Web, right?

It’s the exact place people go for their crazy hypotheses with no supporting evidence.

This individual has shared one of the Kardashian Christmas card outtakes, taken note of where everyone is looking and concluded:

They must be looking at Kylie’s baby!

It’s possible, right?

Kris Jenner, her mom and Kourtney Kardashian are all glancing off to the side, away from the camera, and smiling broadly.

What possible reason would they have for doing this unless Kylie was standing over there with her newborn daughter?

Perhaps you can think of another reason, but this much we know to be true:

Until Kylie issues some kind of statement… or flaunts her baby bump… or does actually produce a photo of her baby, people will continue to speculate.

She may wish it were otherwise, yet Jenner at least has the power to shoot down these sorts of rumors and innuendo.

The reality star can come right out and tell her fans what’s going on.

View Slideshow: Kylie Jenner Baby Name: What Could It Be?

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Kylie Jenner Cosmetics is Worth… Wait… WHAT?!? This Can"t Be Right

When she poses for selfies online, Kylie Jenner rarely wears a lot of clothing.

When she checks her bank account these days, however, Kylie Jenner sees a whole lot of money.

Just how much money may cause your jaw to shatter based on the speed at which it will drop to the floor.

Featured on WWD.com, Kylie and mother Kris Jenner spoke to the website this week about the former’s beauty company, Kylie Cosmetics.

And while it may have received some very negative customer reviews over the years, that apparently has not stopped people from purchasing products sponsored by Kylie.

Not by a long shot.

Kylie Cosmetics reportedly made $ 420 million in sales over the past 18 months, according to paperwork filed by Kris Jenner and discussed in the WWD article.

The fashion trade goes on to write that the company is projected to see sales go up by 25 percent next year… and is on track to become a billion-dollar beauty brand by 2022.

Yes, a BILLION-DOLLAR beauty brand.

Take that, Kim Kardashian, huh?

For context of this accomplishment, WWD notes that Estee Laude reached revenues of $ 500 million after a decade.

And L’Oreal’s Lancome became a billon-dollar brand in 2015. After 80 years.

Kylie Cosmetics, meanwhile, wasn’t even created until 2015. This is all pretty nuts.

“In the beginning I didn’t really know what my vision was,” Kylie told WWD, explaining of her business endeavor:

“I didn’t know if I wanted to keep my whole line the same, consistent.

“And then I think I realized over time that I like to switch it up, so … that’s where I kind of started creating my collections and just changing all my vials pink if I wanted to and doing fun unit cartons and just really, just having fun with the line.”

The 20-year old mogul launched her now-famous lip kits in three shades in November of 2015.

“I refreshed the page about a minute after we launched and everything was sold out,” she said. “I thought there was a glitch at first.”

Since this time , Jenner has expanded her collection to include blushes, highlighters and eyeshadow palettes.

“I think people were surprised that the brand is so successful because it’s something that Kylie’s created but didn’t really expect the whole business to be the perfect storm,” says her mother, expounding as follows:

“One they tried it, saw it, wore it, were able to experiment with it, and it’s such a great product and it’s so well done, it just kind of exploded and I think that people were thinking, ‘Oh, OK, is she really a player in this business?’

“And I think she proved that she is.”

Concludes her famous, supportive parent:

“Kylie is hardworking, creative, focused and she has the most amazing work ethic of anybody I’d ever met in my life and she really considers this her true passion, an honor and a huge responsibility…

“She’s amazing."”

View Slideshow: Kylie Jenner Makeup Routine: A Step-by-Step, Very Expensive Tutorial

And just to think… if Kim had never been plowed by Ray J on camera, none of this would be possible.

Talk about amazing!

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