For years, any time LeVar Burton would run into Alex Trebek—at the Daytime Emmys or elsewhere—he would pester the Jeopardy! host with one idea: do a celebrity tournament. “I was completely and totally selfish and self serving in my desire,” the Star Trek: The Next Generation actor and Reading Rainbow host admitted in an interview with The Daily Beast. He just really, really wanted to find […]
Laura Bradley
160 posts
Alexander Lofgren, a caseworker in the office of Arizona Congressman Raúl Grijalva and a former U.S. Army combat engineer, was found dead after going missing with his girlfriend on a camping trip in Death Valley. Authorities began searching for Lofgren and his girlfriend, Emily Henkel, on Tuesday after the two, described as experienced campers who often traverse remote areas, did not return from their trek Sunday […]
It’s never a good sign when the subtext of a series somehow rings clearer than the story itself—but given that the central characters of HBO’s The Nevers come with names like “Miss True,” “Penance,” and “Maladie,” perhaps it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. The Nevers starts from a relatively simple premise: A cluster of “touched” women in Victorian England acquired supernatural powers three years […]
ABC might have found its next big family comedy—and its secret weapon is a guy best known for a show about dick graffiti. Home Economics, premiering Wednesday, starts from a simple premise: Three siblings, each in a very different income bracket, navigate their complicated financial relationship to stay bonded as a family. Topher Grace, echoing his run as endearing dweeb Eric Forman on That ‘70s Show, […]
One week after Law & Order: Organized Crime kicked off with a massive SVU crossover event, Dick Wolf, showrunner Ilene Chaiken, and star Christopher Meloni are finally ready to reveal a little more about NBC’s latest big procedural. For months, details about Organized Crime have been kept largely under wraps. But during a press conference Wednesday, the trio answered reporters’ questions about what kind of cop […]
NBC This post contains spoilers for Law & Order: SVU and Law & Order: Organized Crime. Reunited, and it feels so… well, not good, really. On Thursday night, Law & Order finally reunited NBC’s most beloved platonic couple: After a decade apart, Mariska Hargitay’s Olivia Benson and Christopher Meloni’s Elliot Stabler are back on the case. Unfortunately, it took the death of Stabler’s wife, Kathy, at […]
Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Jennifer Shah and her “first assistant” Stuart Smith have been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. Federal prosecutors allege that Shah and Smith, who has also appeared on RHOSLC, drummed up victims for a telemarketing scam that ran for nine years. A press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New […]
Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival hits a little differently after a year of isolation. With the Oscars set to air April 25, it felt fitting, as we chose one streaming gem to surface for this month, to select the film that should have won Amy Adams her first gold statuette. (Or, at the very least, a best actress nomination.) Adams was long overdue for an Oscar nod by […]
It’s been almost a year to the day since Ina Garten made the big cosmo. Last April, the Barefoot Contessa shared a cocktail tutorial with her freshly quarantining fans. She mixed together some of her favorite cocktail ingredients—including “good vodka” and “very freshly squeezed” lime juice—in a giant pitcher before transferring the mixture into what might be the world’s largest tumbler. The orange twist on top? […]
Jessica Walter, the beloved actor whose decade-spanning career never slowed down, has died at age 80. The Emmy winner and four-time nominee passed in her sleep, Deadline reports. In recent years, Walter has offered side-splittingly sardonic performances in both Arrested Development, in which she played the sharp-tongued Bluth matriarch Lucille, and Archer, in which she voiced the titular spy’s delightfully impossible mother, Malory. But her career […]
As Matt James sat down with Emmanuel Acho during The Bachelor’s “After the Final Rose” finale special, the toll this season had taken on him became immediately clear. James’s eyes alternated between vacant and teary as he described his break-up with Rachael Kirkconnell—who won this season but only after viewers surfaced her troubling past behavior, including attending an Old South-themed party. (Kirkconnell has apologized both on […]
Going into Monday night, all eyes in Bachelor Nation were on Emmanuel Acho. The former NFL linebacker, sports analyst, and Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man host stepped in to host the “After the Final Rose” special following Matt James’ Bachelor finale after Chris Harrison temporarily stepped away. For most of this season, ABC and Bachelor producer Warner Bros. have refused to address the racism scandal […]
Going into Monday night, all eyes in Bachelor Nation were on Emmanuel Acho. The former NFL linebacker, sports analyst, and Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man host stepped in to host the “After the Final Rose” special following Matt James’ Bachelor finale after Chris Harrison temporarily stepped away. For most of this season, ABC and Bachelor producer Warner Bros. have refused to address the racism scandal […]
In South Park, like the rest of the country, the hottest place in town is currently a COVID-19 vaccination site. On Wednesday’s “South ParQ The Vaccination Special,” Cartman and the gang struggled to protect their “broship” despite pandemic-induced isolation—while the rest of the town is caught in a Hunger Games-ian scramble to get their hands on that sweet, sweet Pfizer. (Or Moderna! or Johnson & Johnson! […]
Since the very beginning of this year’s Bachelor, we’ve known two things about our hunk du jour, Matt James: After 25 seasons, he is (finally) the franchise’s first Black Bachelor and, as touted extensively in promotional materials ahead of the premiere, he’s never been in love before. For most of this season, Matt’s so-called “amazing journey” toward discovering what love really means to him has taken […]
Was there any doubt as Jane Fonda prepared to accept the Cecil B. DeMille Award at this year’s Golden Globes that one of Hollywood’s fiercest activists would use her platform, once more, to voice her beliefs? On Sunday night, she did not disappoint—urging Hollywood to do better on diversity moments after the Hollywood Foreign Press Association responded to the outcry that emerged over the weekend over […]
Negan better watch his back, because Maggie Greene is back in town. On Sunday night, The Walking Dead returned to close out its super-sized penultimate season with six more episodes—and kicked things off by giving Maggie a chance to explain what she and her son, Hershel, have been up to, and why it’s been so long since she touched base with Team Family. But the real […]
The Bachelor might still be pretending that the uproar surrounding this season’s frontrunner, Rachael Kirkconnell, and host Chris Harrison off-screen doesn’t exist—but Matt James, this season’s lead and the franchise’s first Black Bachelor, has spoken out. Monday’s episode continued the pattern set by weeks past, ignoring the backlash that ensued after fans discovered images of Kirkconnell attending an Antebellum South-themed party, wearing offensive Halloween costumes, and […]
It feels fitting that the patron saint of Dickinson Season 2 is a dancer whose performances and radical ideas astounded and scandalized people across the world. Season 2 of Apple’s wild literary comedy has found Emily Dickinson (Hailee Steinfeld) grappling with the question of fame while her sister, Lavinia, played by Anna Baryshnikov, realizes she might have a lot more in common with her unconventional sister […]
Claudia Conway, like everyone else who auditioned on Sunday’s American Idol premiere, wants a golden ticket to Hollywood—but unlike most of her peers, everyone already knows who this teenager is. Kellyanne and George Conway’s daughter first announced she’d auditioned for the singing competition series in November on TikTok, where she’s gained a massive following over the past year. Claudia’s social media presence has exposed strife within […]
After weeks of controversy, Bachelor contestant Rachael Kirkconnell has released a statement apologizing for images that have surfaced of her attending a plantation-themed party, donning insensitive Halloween costumes, and “liking” offensive social media posts—including one in which two people are posed in front of a Confederate flag. And in a surprising, unprecedented move, the season’s entire cast has posted a shared statement to their social media […]
Sia’s new directorial debut, Music, has yet to actually premiere—but it’s already caused the singer-songwriter quite a mess. Music finds Kate Hudson playing a newly sober woman who assumes guardianship of her autistic half-sister, played by Maddie Ziegler. Critics from the autism community began speaking out against the film last November—and Sia, apparently defensive, largely treated them with dismissiveness and disdain. On Tuesday, however, Sia struck […]
On Wednesday morning, movie lovers enjoyed an annual celebration of chaos: the Golden Globe nominations. True to form, this year included several wild snubs and surprises—including the complete exclusion of Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods, one of the year’s most gutting dramas as well as one of the last films Chadwick Boseman shot before his death last year. And to make things more awkward? Spike Lee’s […]
What does it take to topple a villainous monarch? If the women of The Bachelor just taught us anything, it’s that sometimes the solution is as simple as calling her crappy attitude out to the right person. Matt James finally took the reins Monday night, after Katie Thurston tipped him off last week to the relentless bullying that has pervaded this season. It appears our Bachelor […]
Months after a fatal hit-and-run took the lives of two boys in Los Angeles County’s Westlake Village, former Major League Baseball pitcher Scott Erickson has been charged with a misdemeanor count of reckless driving in connection with the crime. Investigators told ABC7 that Erickson was racing socialite Rebecca Grossman moments before she fatally struck 11-year-old Mark Iskander and his 8-year-old brother Jacob on September 29. Grossman […]
Tom Hooper’s Cats might forever haunt countless moviegoers (and the VFX crew behind it), but Amanda Seyfried’s nightmares come from a different Hooper film entirely: Les Misérables, in which she played Cosette. While Seyfried did not bash the 2012 musical adaptation itself during her Variety “Actors on Actors” sit-down with Vanessa Kirby, she did get candid about her performance. Specifically, she wishes she could re-do all […]
If there’s one thing The Bachelor really wanted to get across Monday night, it’s that Matt James’s most frustrated prospective wife, Anna Redman, really has feelings about women “entertaining men for money.” Promotional clips that ran ahead of (and during) this week’s episode made clear that a woman in the house—one of several new contestants dropped into the resort weeks into the production—would be accused of […]
Harry Vanderspeigle, the hero of Syfy’s newest comedy, Resident Alien, is a totally normal guy. The local doctor for the tiny, sleepy town of Patience, Colorado, he likes to spend his time fishing and going for treks out on the nearby frozen slopes, and watching Law & Order re-runs. There’s just one catch: He’s actually an alien on a mission to kill all of humanity. He’s […]
The most ambitious, stunning moment from Euphoria’s second special episode came from one of its most beloved performers. Hunter Schafer, who plays Jules, shared a poem she’d written with creator Sam Levinson—which became the inspiration for the HBO drama’s second standalone episode, the colorfully titled “F— Anyone Who’s Not a Sea Blob.” In December, Euphoria debuted the first of two special episodes produced during the pandemic—“Part […]
It is with a heavy heart that I must announce that the porn sites are at it again. According to The Sun, adult entertainment sites are once again pilfering sex scenes from a steamy prestige drama—this time, Netflix’s Bridgerton. And the show’s cast is reportedly far from pleased. A source told the tabloid that Phoebe Dynevor, who plays the show’s romantic lead Daphne Bridgerton, is devastated. […]
More than a week has passed since screenshots of those frightening alleged DM’s between Armie Hammer and a series of women first surfaced—and now, the actor has reportedly issued an apology, although not for the reason many might think. For days, pop-culture obsessives have been aghast over the screenshots, which have not been confirmed by any official source but appear to show that the actor once […]
The celebrity scandals that often prove hardest to ignore are the ones that seem to align with the subtle contours of the embattled star’s public image—arranging those small eccentricities that have accumulated over the years into something more legible and, often, more lurid. Example: Read just about any vintage profile of Armie Hammer right now, and you’ll give your eyebrows the workout of a lifetime. Last […]
The writing was on the wall even before The Bachelor’s self-coronated “Queen” Victoria Larson first stepped off her palanquin to greet this year’s sample of man meat, Matt James. Regardless of how much would be her doing versus the show’s producers—who know just how to capture everyone in their worst possible light—it was clear that Victoria would be a royal pain in the ass. Despite this […]
Diehard fans know that there’s a Sex and the City quote for everything. For instance: When HBO Max announced its SATC reboot, And Just Like That…, would debut without Kim Cattrall’s Samantha Jones, I couldn’t help but wonder why they would ever attempt such a foolhardy plan. But then I remembered a quote from the sex-positive sage herself. “Men cheat for the same reason that dogs […]
This post contains spoilers for the Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 finale. As Star Trek: Discovery ended its third season Thursday, Starfleet medical officer Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz) made a big promise to Gray, a young deceased Trill boy who still appears to his partner, Adira. “We’ll help you to be seen,” Culber said. “Truly seen.” Gray and Adira became historic additions to the Discovery cast […]
“I don’t need my eyes to see,” Dickinson’s titular poet tells her worried family at the start of the Apple comedy’s second season. All she needs, she says, is her soul. “That’s what I see the truth with.” It might seem odd to begin Emily Dickinson’s journey back to our TV screens with a trip to the eye doctor (who her father later decides is a […]
Rowan Atkinson, the British comedian, actor, and writer known for sitcoms including Mr. Bean and Blackadder, is apparently not a fan of “cancel culture.” Speaking with the U.K. outlet Radio Times, as reported by Deadline, Atkinson decried the polarization online algorithms create. “The problem we have online is that an algorithm decides what we want to see, which ends up creating a simplistic, binary view of […]
Maybe it’s the months of quarantine, or maybe it’s the fact that Matt James is, if we’re being honest, the first genuinely swoon-worthy Bachelor we’ve had in years—but whatever the reason, this season of the dating franchise is already off to a very promising (and sexually-charged) start. This season transports us from Palm Springs—the site of Clare Crawley and Tayshia Adams’ recently closed joint Bachelorette season—to […]
Patty Jenkins might have turned Wonder Woman into a landmark success for Warner Bros.’ DC cinematic universe—but she is not mincing words about how hard it was to get there. In a recent interview with Marc Maron for his WTF podcast, Jenkins recalled that for years after she directed the critically acclaimed film Monster, which won Charlize Theron the Oscar for best actress, Hollywood was blowing […]
This post contains spoilers for Bridgerton’s Season 1 finale. Netflix’s steamy new romance series, Bridgerton, might not necessarily have much interest in teaching its audience any big “lessons”—but if there’s one takeaway from its debut season, it’s that one should never underestimate a wallflower. Fans of Julia Quinn’s original romance novels already knew what viewers of the TV series have just (or will soon) find out: […]
2020 has been the best of times for celebrities, and perhaps the worst of times for a number of their publicists. On one hand, our wealthiest stars certainly enjoy better quarantine habitats than the “little people.” On the other, the struggle to understand how dire the pandemic has been for many has also led some stars to expose just how out of touch they really are. […]
To speak with Colman Domingo is to realize that every move the actor makes is deliberate. Whether he’s explaining the roles he chooses, the clothes he wears, or the way he’s responded to this surreal year, the seasoned actor always seems to have a meticulously thought-out answer right off the cuff. He shares his reasoning candidly, and with no shortage of hearty laughs that boom down […]
It’s the kind of pitch that seems designed to raise eyebrows: Fran Drescher in a Christmas movie? Perhaps that’s why the former Nanny wasted no time during our call before she explained how, exactly, this came to be. The Christmas Setup is Lifetime’s first holiday rom-com to center on a gay couple—and as someone who’s championed gay rights for years, that’s something she wanted to be […]
Seventeen years ago, a Waste Management employee was emptying trash bins in Cook County’s Stickney Township when she found a pair of newborn twins. The infants were dead, and their umbilical cords were still attached, according to Chicago Tribune reporting at the time. During the course of their investigation back then, police spoke with neighbors and pregnant women in the area, but never managed to solve […]
There’s a certain irony to the fact that Euphoria, a series known above all for its over-the-top aesthetics, just delivered a Christmas special about two people sitting in a diner eating pancakes. After the haunting musical sequence that accompanied Rue’s relapse, it was difficult to know what would come next—both for our hoodied antihero and the series as a whole. And although the look of Friday’s […]
Who knew a man in a dress could still get so many twerps’ knickers in a twist? Well, a lot of us, probably—but nonetheless, it was still fascinating to watch conservatives clutch their pearls as Harry Styles became the first man to grace the cover of Vogue, blowing a balloon in a gloriously ruffled dress. Leading the charge was Candace Owens, with the battle cry “Bring […]
One thing we can say for Bennett Jordan: He knew his Bachelorette brand from the start, from the moment he stepped out of a Rolls Royce into the balmy summer night in Palm Springs wearing a crisp white scarf. Any seasoned Bachelorette fan could have told you from the beginning that Bennett, a Clark Kent-Patrick Bateman face morph who seems to derive his greatest pleasure in […]
It’s been a harrowing couple of years in the Fast Family. First came the Great “Candy Ass” Saga of 2016—a matter feuding beefcakes Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson managed to settle years later. But that controversy basically bled into a new bout of bad blood between Johnson and Tyrese Gibson, who called The Rock “selfish” in 2017, as Fast 9 faced delays to facilitate the Johnson- […]
I Hate Suzie lives inside a feeling most of us, if we’re lucky, only experience for a few panicked seconds at a time. It’s that moment after you hear a bit of Earth-shattering news—when a vacuum seems to form at the back of your throat and the atmosphere around your head seems to thin, leaving you to float in space inside your own body. Everything is […]
What, exactly, is going on with Sia? On Thursday the singer shared the trailer for Music, which debuts in February. In the movie, Kate Hudson plays Zu—a newly sober woman who assumes guardianship of her autistic half-sister Music, played by Maddie Ziegler. By Friday frustrated Twitter users had inundated Sia’s replies. Many wanted to know why Ziegler, who is not on the spectrum and has never […]
After more than a decade and a half’s worth of tear-jerking deaths and miracles, it feels fair to say that most Grey’s Anatomy twists feel like par for the course. Sure, their details surprise—but do they really shock us anymore? (That’s a sincere question; I have not felt true emotion since they axed Denny Duquette.) But last week, the long-running medical drama’s 17th season premiere dropped […]
Megan Thee Stallion has shared a new allegation from the night Tory Lanez allegedly shot her in the feet: In a GQ profile, the rapper said Lanez tried to pay her to keep quiet. This summer Megan Thee Stallion was shot in both feet after a pool party—a crime for which Lanez has been charged with felony assault. (His arraignment is set for this week.) Megan […]
This post contains spoilers for the Grey’s Anatomy Season 17 premiere. Uh, did that really just happen? On Thursday night, Grey’s Anatomy returned for its Season 17 premiere, which promotional clips have promised will both address the COVID-19 pandemic and leave us gasping. Well, it worked—because at the end of the episode, we’re faced with none other than McDreamy himself, Patrick Dempsey. The circumstances that bring […]
Longtime Law & Order: Special Victims Unit fans likely had an inkling of what to expect when they tuned in for its Season 22 premiere Thursday night. After all, how could a show known for its ripped-from-the-headlines zeal resist the dystopian cornucopia of 2020’s news cycle? Within its first five minutes, the premiere episode, “Guardians and Gladiators,” tackled “Central Park Karen” Amy Cooper, who called police […]
Alton Brown is not making many friends online this week. On Monday, the celebrity chef, author, and onetime Food Network host landed himself in hot water on Twitter with a miscalculated post about his conservative leanings—and days later, he cranked things up to a boil with a couple even more misguided Holocaust tweets. Brown appears to have removed all of the offending posts and has apologized […]
Looks like Paris’s most annoying tourist will not be bidding the city “au revoir” just yet. On Wednesday Netflix announced that it had renewed Emily in Paris for a second season—just over a month after its surprisingly controversial premiere. (What can we say? The algorithms don’t differentiate between those who watch and those who hate-watch.) But what will Emily do for 10 more episodes in good […]
What was it about Alex Trebek? For more than 35 years, the dry-witted Jeopardy! host beamed into living rooms across America with a simple but precious goal: celebrating knowledge for knowledge’s sake. In doing so, he became something of a paternal figure—a wonk with a dry sense of humor who, for 30 minutes each weeknight, really wanted us to remember our European history. On Sunday Jeopardy! […]
After years of controversy and carefully written statements, Johnny Depp has been fired from the Fantastic Beasts franchise. The embattled actor recently lost his libel suit against National Group Newspapers over an article in British tabloid The Sun that called him a “wife beater”—and that, apparently, was all it took for Warner Bros. to finally cut ties. Depp announced his departure Friday—in a statement dripping with […]
Sacha Baron Cohen and Borat Subsequent Movie Film are not done trolling the White House just yet. On Friday morning the actor and his co-star, Bulgarian actress Maria Bakalova, appeared on Good Morning America—where Baron Cohen revealed Bakalova has been staying in character since the film wrapped. And one prank already went off without a hitch. As Cohen told GMA, Bakalova “recently got taken on a […]
The UK’s History channel is getting taken to school. On Monday, Sky HISTORY—the History channel’s counterpart across the pond—posted a promotional clip for its competition series The Chop: Britain’s Top Woodworker on Twitter. Featured contestant Darren Lumsden, a heavily-tattooed joiner from Bristol, was portrayed as good-natured and folksy; contemplating the competition ahead, he described himself as “patient, to a degree.” But Twitter users quickly noticed some […]
After running a cold open that mocked NBC’s controversial Trump town hall, Saturday Night Live also dedicated a portion of this week’s “Weekend Update” segment to flame the network. After Colin Jost roasted the president for hosting more “coronavirus giveaways across the country,” Michael Che went in on his home network for giving the president a platform. “What can I say?” Che said. “We have a […]
NBC stirred plenty of controversy this week by granting Donald Trump his own town hall in the same time slot as Joe Biden’s broadcast—but the decision seems even more cynical than some critics alleged when you realize how much Saturday Night Live maestro Lorne Michaels and his merry band of comedians must have been drooling at the prospect. Saturday night’s cold open kicked off the show, […]
To come of age as a woman, too often, is to learn that your body speaks for you. Maybe it starts with a holiday—you show up at Thanksgiving and a relative tenderly asks if you’re “OK” because you’ve gained weight without realizing it. Maybe it’s a headline touting the way some hot celebrity is “flaunting” a curve or “showcasing” their tight ass by simply existing in […]
This post contains spoilers for The Bachelorette Season 16 premiere. Nothing screams “romance” like nasal swabs, swole medical sales reps quarantining in a La Quinta resort, and B-roll of George Stephanopoulos covering a pandemic, am I right? Am I right?! On Monday night, after what feels like a millennium, The Bachelorette returned to our screens with a new, dystopian twist: As Chris Harrison dutifully noted at […]
Ahead of the election, Megan Thee Stallion knows that once again Black women are being asked to save the country—despite still being “constantly disrespected and disregarded in so many areas of life.” She’s had enough. In a passionate op-ed and accompanying video for the New York Times, the rapper detailed several ways our society mistreats Black women. She meditated on how those double standards and abuses […]
Less than one week after a Texas grand jury indicted Netflix over its distribution of the controversial coming-of-age film Cuties, the company’s co-CEO Ted Sarandos has hit back at what he calls a discussion of “censoring storytelling.” The film, a feature debut from Maïmouna Doucouré, follows an 11-year-old Senegalese immigrant, Amy, as she attends her new school and befriends a dance group called the “Cuties.” As […]
“I know it sounds like I’m making this up,” Carla Gugino told me halfway through our interview. “But I’m actually not.” We were on the phone discussing The Haunting of Bly Manor—a follow-up to Netflix’s Haunting of Hill House in which Gugino makes a surprise appearance as the narrator. (Her character is also central to the season’s biggest, most spoiler-y twist, which we’ll get to later—with […]
Since its premiere, Darren Star’s picturesque Netflix show, Emily in Paris, has proven divisive: Is it a frothy, escapist fantasy—or a nightmare show about an incurable narcissist? But regardless of what you think of Emily and the show’s abundant forgiveness for her refusal to actually learn French, there is one thing we can all agree upon: Poor Camille deserved better! (Spoilers ahead!) It’s not just that […]
Before actor, model and activist Nyle DiMarco created his new Netflix docusoap, Deaf U, he competed on both America’s Next Top Model and Dancing with the Stars. But even though he won both shows, the experience was not entirely positive for DiMarco; in both projects, he notes, “I was just ‘The Deaf Guy.’” “No one really took the time to really get to know me and […]
Things are not looking good for Ellen DeGeneres. For years, rumors have swirled that daytime TV’s “kindest” host is actually kind of a nightmare to work with—and this year, former employees spoke out about the show’s alleged behind-the-scenes toxicity in a series of reports that launched a formal investigation, which ended with the removal of three producers. And now that DeGeneres has officially returned to screen—both […]
Republicans’ crusade against the French film Cuties, which garnered widespread controversy as it debuted on Netflix last month, just reached a new level of stupidity: A Texas grand jury has indicted the streamer for “promotion of lewd visual material depicting a child.” A press release from the office of Tyler County Criminal District Attorney (and former model and actor) Lucas Babin states that per state law […]
Whichever cameraman caught Dancing with the Stars professional dancer Keo Motsepe’s confused look as Tyra Banks announced the wrong bottom two dance duos on Monday night deserves a big raise. Ever since she took over as host of the beloved, long-running competition show, fans have been complaining about Banks’ on-stage antics, and more specifically her mistakes. The vitriol has been harsh—which might be why as soon […]
Almost four years to the day after the Access Hollywood scandal first broke, Billy Bush is revisiting the moment that almost derailed his career. (Again.) Speaking with Men’s Health, the Extra host discussed his relationship with Matt Lauer—and why he felt “deeply hurt” by the disgraced Today anchor at the time. In the fall of 2016, audio leaked of Trump bragging about sexually assaulting women on […]
Steve Snowden/Getty One of David Benioff and D.B. Weiss’s most controversial Game of Thrones choices apparently still doesn’t sit well with George R. R. Martin. Speaking with James Hibberd for a comprehensive oral history of the show, the author said he still doesn’t like the way the duo changed Daenerys Targaryen’s wedding night with Khal Drogo. In the original A Song of Ice and Fire series, […]
This post contains spoilers for The Walking Dead Season 10 finale. Like a re-animated corpse trudging down a dusty road, The Walking Dead seems destined to trudge on and on until the sun sets on us all. Sure, the onetime cable juggernaut is finally coming to an end—but it will only give way to a new spin-off, focused on beloved original characters Daryl and Carol. The […]
When asked to describe the fashionable heroine of his sunny Netflix rom-com, Emily in Paris, Darren Star chose his words carefully. “I wanted to know, to create a character that had a lot of real sort of gung-ho ‘American qualities’—ambitious,” he told me during a recent phone interview. “She’s… she’s not a know-it-all, but she comes in with a… I think certainly a lot of, um, […]
Paramount Network might have canceled Cops earlier this year but evidently the show is not dead yet; its production company has begun filming new episodes. Cops and the similarly-themed A&E show Live PD were both canceled earlier this year amid protests against police brutality. Although new episodes will not air in the U.S., a representative for Cops producer Langley Prods. told Deadline they will still debut […]
Chrissy Teigen and John Legend never chose baby names before they gave birth, the model and entrepreneur wrote in a raw post on Wednesday night. This time it had been different. This time they’d taken to calling the fetus Jack. And this time, they will never have a son to bring home from the hospital. Teigen had miscarried. The model and entrepreneur’s doctor put her on […]
In late October 2004, South Park aired one of its most iconic episodes—a pre-election installment called “Douche and Turd,” which crystallized the show’s nihilism, political and otherwise. The douche and turd were an on-the-nose symbol for the idea that in any given election, both politicians tend to be equally unappealing. But on Wednesday night, the long-running animated show defied its central tenet—the one insisting that caring […]
Netflix’s new mystery movie, Enola Holmes, showcases the full breadth of Millie Bobby Brown’s talents with one of the entertainment industry’s time-honored traditions: Letting her do battle against the lung-crushing oppression of a corset. From the moment Brown crushed a Coke can with her brain as Eleven in Stranger Things, it was obvious she was going places. But the young actress’s fascinating potential could only be […]
As Saturday Night Live prepares for its Season 46 premiere on October 3, things will be very different from the norm. Although the venerated sketch show will return live—a departure from the remotely produced “At Home” editions launched earlier this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic—everything about its production has been overhauled to ensure the safety of its cast and crew. “We don’t know that we’re […]
While one could fairly question how much influencers have given to us—as a species and a society—it’s undeniable that they’re real innovators when it comes to finding ways to be weird about race. Whether it’s blackfishing or posting black squares on Instagram as though that somehow supports Black Lives Matter, influencers just have a knack for being thoroughly embarrassing. And now they have a new medium: […]
It might seem strange to some that Glen Zipper, the Oscar-winning documentarian who created Netflix’s adorable docu-series Dogs, chose to tackle the Challenger explosion as his second project for the streaming giant. But in an interview with The Daily Beast, he said both have been passion projects for him—even if their subjects are different as can be. Challenger: The Final Flight, which Zipper executive produced, debuts […]
In 2013, J.K. Rowling explained how she chose her now-controversial pseudonym, “Robert Galbraith.” The first name, she said, was a nod to her political hero, Robert Kennedy. And the last name? “When I was a child, I really wanted to be called Ella Galbraith, I’ve no idea why.” It’s a charming anecdote—but unfortunately, Rowling shares her pseudonym with real-life psychiatrist Robert Galbraith Heath, who in the […]
Chris Evans offered some sunny snark as he appeared on the Tamron Hall show Tuesday morning. “Did something happen this weekend?” he asked, putting on his most innocent voice. As anyone not living under a rock likely knows by now, the Marvel actor accidentally shared a reel of personal photos in a video post on Instagram Saturday—and among those images, unfortunately, was a photo of his […]
I didn’t want to say it. Having grown up in the South, I am cursed with the kind of conciliatory attitude that can make asking things like “So, were you aware that your trend-launching gender-reveal cake was kind of lame?” exceedingly difficult. Thankfully Jenna Karvunidis, the so-called “inventor” of the gender-reveal party, said it for me. “It is ugly!” Karvunidis said during a phone interview of […]
“Difficult” is not a word that one should have to use in connection with an Emmy nomination. Yet, as excited as Billy Porter is feeling about his second best actor nod for FX’s Pose, that is how he described what it’s like to finally feel seen while the establishment continues to deny your colleagues the recognition they deserve. Despite Porter’s back-to-back nominations—and his victory at last […]
One of the defining feuds of our time might soon come to an end. As Fresh Prince of Bel-Air gears up for a reunion on HBO Max, Will Smith has shared a photo of himself smiling alongside the original Aunt Vivian, Janet Hubert. The photo might come as a shock to Fresh Prince die-hards and even casual pop-culture fans, given Smith and Hubert’s highly visible, decades-long […]
Saturday Night Live will return to Studio 8H for its Season 46 premiere, and will air live in its usual time slot on October 3, the Peacock announced Thursday. This year marks a significant milestone for the venerated sketch show: October 11 will be the 45th anniversary of its premiere in 1975. It is unclear whether SNL will celebrate this landmark with a special—although the date […]
A few years ago it seemed that The Walking Dead would outlive us all—but on Wednesday Scott Gimple and Angela Kang confirmed that the onetime TV juggernaut will come to an end with a 24-episode 11th season. Once upon a time, The Walking Dead was planned to run for 12 seasons at least. Over the years, however, enthusiasm has waned along with viewership. What happened? It’s […]
Halle Berry’s Best Actress win at the 2002 Oscars might have made history—but over time the actress says it has become “one of my biggest heartbreaks.” Speaking with Variety for a cover story, the actress said she’d believed her victory would open doors. But even now, 18 years later, she remains the only Black actress to accept the award. That, she says, has made her doubt […]
What is it about space? The black, starry void is a singularly vexing backdrop; it evokes endless possibility and terrifying nothingness all at once. We love to watch celebrities scream in space, contemplate fictional long-lost loved ones in space, and, of course, mull the very real existential doom that faces our planet in space. Enter Netflix’s Away—a gripping drama that embraces this galaxy of thematic potential […]
Chadwick Boseman’s hometown is already working on a statue dedicated to the late actor—but it will not replace the Confederate monument that still stands in the town square. After the actor’s tragic death from colon cancer, fans began signing a petition calling for Anderson, South Carolina, where Boseman was born and raised, to replace the Confederate statue that claims the soldiers who fought for the South […]
John Boyega is not letting Disney off the hook for how Star Wars mishandled his character. In his first major interview since Rise of Skywalker premiered last winter, the actor called out the way Finn and Kelly Marie Tran’s character, Rose Tico, were sidelined. “Like, you guys knew what to do with Daisy Ridley, you knew what to do with Adam Driver,” Boyega told British GQ. […]
It was only a matter of time before Riverdale actress Marisol Nichols’ double life as an actress-slash-sex-trafficking-agent got the small-screen treatment. And sure enough, it appears the time has come. Deadline reports that Sony Pictures Television has optioned the rights for Nichols’ story and is in the early stages of development on a series the onetime Hermione Lodge will also executive produce. (Nichols left Riverdale after […]
Afghan actress, director, and activist Saba Sahar has been hospitalized after three men fired into her car while she was on her way to work in Kabul. Sahar is one of Afghanistan’s best known actresses and first female directors—as well as a prominent women’s rights activist. She’s also a high-ranking police officer and vocal critic of the Taliban. She was recently promoted to a deputy position […]
Bette Midler evidently was not a fan of Melania Trump’s speech at the Republican National Convention Tuesday night. As the First Lady took the stage and delivered a speech CNN pundits would later praise for its empathy, the entertainment legend mocked her for being an “illegal alien” who “can’t speak English”—insults she later said Trump has more than earned, given the racism both she and the […]
Rose McGowan’s ongoing feud with Alyssa Milano just escalated again with an online spat for the ages. The inciting incident for all this? Some political tweets, naturally. On Thursday McGowan vented her frustration with the Democratic Party: “What have the Democrats done to solve ANYTHING?” she wrote. Help the poor? No. Help black & brown people? No. Stop police brutality? No. Help single mothers? No. Help […]
Criterion President Peter Becker knows that his company’s film collection has long ignored Black artists. And now, he says, he’s ready to do something about it. In a fascinating feature well worth reading in full, The New York Times spoke with Becker about the scarcity of Black and African American directors within Criterion’s ranks. “There’s nothing I can say about it that will make it OK,” […]