B12 The Boston Globe FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2019
‘I’m baccckk’
David Ortiz returns to Twitter
Big Papi’s back on Twitter.
Red Sox legendDavidOrtizon Thursday af-
ternoon tweeted for the first time since he was
nearly killed in a shooting June 9 in his native
Dominican Republic.
“Yooo @Twitter... I’m baccckk,” Ortiz wrote,
continuing that he was “catching up on all the
tweets I missed the past few months. Thankful
for all the luv n support.”
A number of people and organizations quick-
ly responded, including Major League Baseball.
The league’s official Twitter handle replied, “Wel-
come back, Papi!” as well as a heart emoji and a
gif of Sox fans holding up placards that spelled
out O-R-T-I-Z at Fenway Park.
PhilRobertson, the deputy Asia director for
the advocacy group Human Rights Watch, gave
the former World Series MVP love from abroad.
“Welcome back, Big Papi!” Robertson tweet-
ed. “Red Sox fans in Bangkok love you!”
JeffLocke, a former Major League pitcher
from New Hampshire, responded by simply
tweeting out a fist emoji.
Ortiz brought the house down at Fenway ear-
lier this month when he threw out the first pitch
to resounding cheers from the crowd.“First of all, I want to thank God for giving
me a second opportunity of my life and being
able to be here with all of you,” Ortiz told his
adoring fans. “I want to thank the Red Sox — my
real family — they always have been there for
me, supporting me no matter where I’m at. They
were the first ones to support me. Thank you
very much.”
In a recent Globe interview, Ortiz described
the chaotic aftermath of the shooting, which oc-
curred in the patio area of the Dial Bar and
Lounge in Santo Domingo,
As a grainy videotape of the shooting shows,
Ortiz, 43, slumped to the bar’s wooden floor
within seconds of the gunshot. At the sound of
the shot, patrons scattered, including Ortiz’s
companions. He was left alone, writhing on the
floor, critically injured. A bar patron loaded Or-
tiz into his car and took him to the hospital.
A number of suspects have been arrested in
connection with the shooting, including the al-
leged triggerman.
The retired ballplayer has hired former Bos-
ton police commissionerEdDavisto look into
the circumstances surrounding the shooting.
TRAVIS ANDERSENGOTATIP?
Send your celebrity
sightings and local
entertainment updates
to [email protected].Names
MarkWahlberghas never been one
to shy away from staying fit, but the
Dorchester native has been especially
focused on training due to a role in a
new action movie.
The actor took to social media to
share a photo of himself chatting with
directorAntoineFuqua(“Training
Day”) on the set of their new
movie, “Infinite,” which be-
gan production earlier
this week.
“You’ve all been
wondering what I’ve
been training for, and
this is it,” Wahlberg
wrote below the photo,
showing the pair in an air-
craft hangar standing be-
tween a private jet and a sleek
sports car.
“Day 1 on the set of @infinitemov... coming Summer 2020. Excited to
be back with #AntoineFuqua who has
an incredible vision for this high-con-
cept,ORIGINALactionthriller...it’s
a classic story of good vs. evil with an
epic twist.”
“Infinite” is based onD.EricMai-
kranz’s novel “The Reincarnationist
Papers,” which is about Evan Michaels,
a man tormented by vivid, persistent
memoriesoftwopreviouslives.He
soon discovers and joins a secret soci-
ety called the Cognomina, an ancient
group of individuals who perfectly re-
call their past lives and have used that
power to change the world over the
course of centuries.
“Infinite” was originally slated to
starChrisEvans(“The Avengers”),
but the Sudbury native had to
drop out because of sched-
uling issues. Those issues
were probably caused by
the upcoming Apple+
limited series “Defend-
ing Jacob,” which
wrapped up a lengthy
production in Massachu-
setts that took months to
shoot and brought film
crews to more than 40 munici-
palities.
The film will be a reunion for Wahl-
berg and Fuqua, who previously
worked together on “Shooter,” the
2007 action-thriller.
“Infinite,” which will also feature
DylanO’Brien(“The Maze Runner”),
ChiwetelEjiofor(“12 Years a Slave”),
Nahant nativeJasonMantzoukas
(“The Dictator”), andRupertFriend
(“Homeland”), is slated to hit theaters
Aug. 7, 2020.
KEVIN SLANE, Boston.comMark Wahlberg shares first
update from set of new movie
A ballad thatChrisCornellpro-
duced for his daughterToniwhen she
was just 12 is now being released.
‘‘Far Away Places’’ was written by
Toni three years ago, and was one of
the last songs that Cornell recorded
before his death in May 2017.
The song was released on iTunes on
Thursday and is available on other
streaming services. It is featured in ashort film, also titled ‘‘Far Away Plac-
es,’’ byTatianaShanks, a family friend.
The movie has been featured in inter-
national film festivals, and the song
has won awards at various film festi-
vals.
Proceeds from the single’s sales will
be donated to the New York Society for
the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.
ASSOCIATED PRESSCHRIS PIZZELLO/INVISION/AP/FILE
Toni Cornell (pictured performing with Ziggy Marley in January) wrote
“Far Away Places,” which was released Thursday on iTunes.Chris Cornell’s teenage daughter
releases song produced by him
A hearing Wednesday in Los Ange-
les on the future of the court conserva-
torship that for 11 years has controlled
the money and affairs ofBritney
Spearsended with no decisions made
and no appearance from the pop star.
The hearing was cleared of the
public and media. Los Angeles Superi-
or Court JudgeBrendaJ.Pennyissued
no rulings during or after the proceed-
ings, and Spears was not listed among
those in attendance.
The hearing opened with a
courtroom full of media mem-
bers and a few Spears fans,
but all were required to leave
when Penny agreed with at-
torneys who requested that
the hearing and its transcripts
should be sealed because of
what would be revealed about
Spears’s medical, mental, and finan-
cial issues, along with details about
her two sons.
In May, the 37-year-old Spears
made a rare appearance in the same
courtroom for another closed conser-
vatorship hearing. She had asked to
speak to the court and was brought in
through a back door once the court-
room was cleared.
Her request raised the possibility
that she could be seeking changes in
the arrangement that she has largely
quietly accepted for years.
Penny asked for an analyst to re-
view Spears’s situation after that hear-
ing, and had been expected to get at
least some of the results Wednesday.
It’s not clear whether she did, but in
court documents she said the status
hearing would resume in January.
Spears’s father,JamieSpears, and
mother,LynneSpears, were both incourt, along
with a half-
dozen attor-
neys with vari-
ous roles in the
conservatorship.
Jamie Spears temporarily stepped
down as conservator over his daugh-
ter’s personal affairs earlier this
month, citing poor health, but main-
tained his financial control over her.
Prosecutors in neighboring Ventu-
ra County announced Tuesday that
they would not be filing criminal
charges against the 67-year-old Jamie
Spears after deputies investigated an
allegation of child abuse. The district
attorney’s office would not say who the
child in the report was or give any oth-
er details. Jamie Spears’s attorney did
not respond to a request for comment.
JodiMontgomery, who has long
helped manage Britney Spears’s per-
sonal affairs, is now playing the role
her father relinquished, and was also
in court Wednesday.
Lynne Spears has not been in-
volved in the conservatorship but has
recently asked for greater access to in-
formation from its proceedings and
filings.
Jamie Spears has several grandchil-
dren, including Britney Spears’s two
sons, who are 14 and 13.
Her ex-husbandKevinFederline
has custody of the boys, but she has
frequent visits with them.
Conservatorship, known in many
states as guardianship, is an involun-
tary status usually reserved for very el-
derly or very ill people who are suffer-
ing from dementia or otherwise inca-
pacitated and unable to make
decisions for themselves.
The court put Britney Spears under
the status in 2008 when she was hav-
ing serious personal and psychiatric
struggles, many of which played out in
public.
ASSOCIATED PRESSNo Britney Spears,
no decisions made
at court hearing
All it really needs is someone
strumming a guitar and singing
“Smelly Cat.”
A replica set of the iconic TV
show “Friends” is on display at Em-
erson College through Monday, offi-
cials said.
Bostonians can drop in and sit
back on a replica of the burnt or-
ange couch at Central Perk, the cof-
fee shop where the characters hung
out on the show.
They can luxuriate in memories
of Gunther kissing Phoebe, Phoebe
performing her song “Smelly Cat,”
and — of course — Ross and Ra-
chel’s first kiss.
The selfie-friendly replica at the
Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatremainly features a colorful rug and a
wooden coffee table with big mugs,
flowers, and (for some reason, since
the show’s setting was New York) a
copy of the Los Angeles Times. The
back wall of the shop and the shop’s
door are shown on a backdrop.
“We’re really excited to see the
set in person. It’s such a treat to
have it on campus. I was
such a big fan of the show
in the ’90s, so it’s a bit sur-
real to have the set here,”
saidJacquelineHolland,a
member of Emerson’s stu-
dent accessibility services
team.
The replica is one of 30 sets
on display around the world to
mark the 25th anniversary of the
first episode of “Friends.” The popu-
lar show ran from 1994 to 2004.
“Members of the public are in-
vited to interact with the replica
set, take selfies and photos, and use
the hashtag #Friends25 on social
media,” the college said in a state-
ment.
The set drew a steady stream of
Emerson students, employees, and
even a few curious Emerson police
officers when it opened Thursday
morning. One student waited out-
side for the exhibit to open, said
JoshGorman, an usher at the Em-
erson Cutler Majestic Theatre.
The set is open to the public
from Thursday to Monday at the
Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre at
219 Tremont St.
ALYSSA LUKPATNIC ANTAYA FOR THE BOSTON GLOBEHaifa Ibrahim (left) and Cris Kunz snapped a photo together on
the couch at the replica of Central Perk from “Friends” (below).
At Emerson College, a real perk
for fans of TV series ‘Friends’
NBCCRAIG F. WALKER/GLOBE STAFF