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October 23, 2017

Matt Damon and George Clooney Speak Out Against Weinstein

Matt Damon and George Clooney were on GMA today, where they talked about how they knew Harvey Weinstein was “an asshole” but didn’t know the extent of the stories. I found Damon’s comments, in particular, to be a bit problematic. He admits that he heard about what happened to Gwyneth Paltrow from Ben Affleck, but insists he just thought Weinstein was “a womanizer,” saying “This level of criminal sexual predation is not something that I ever thought was going on.” Oh yeah, Matt? And what exact level of “criminal sexual predation” would have made you speak up?

-Clooney also spoke out against Woody Allen’s comments about hoping this doesn’t result in a “witch-hunt atmosphere.” “That’s a stupid thing to say. The reality is it’s not a witch hunt to these women, who were trapped in a hotel room and told they were going to get a part, and then suddenly here comes Harvey Weinstein in his birthday suit. That’s not a witch hunt; that’s an assault.”

-Actress Brit Marling wrapped her Weinstein story in a fascinating essay about the economics of consent. “Consent is a function of power. You have to have a modicum of power to give it.”

Bob Weinstein’s former assistant says she told him about his brother’s sexual harassment over 25 years ago.

-Also, a damning new L.A. Times report outlines how Weinstein “used fashion as a pipeline to models.” More than 10 former or current fashion models — including Cara Delevingne and Angie Everhart — have accused him of a wide range of sexual misconduct.

-Speaking of L.A. Times’ investigations, they published a story this weekend about sexual harassment allegations against director James Toback, in which 38 women accused him. Since the story came out, the reporter says the number has risen to nearly 80.

-Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn says he’s been warning people about Toback for 20 years.

Colin Farrell congratulated himself for not staring at a reporter’s boobs. What a swell guy.

-It’s not all bleak:  at least Kit Harrington is taking back those comments he made last year about experiencing sexism.

Kim Cattrall says she was ‘never friends‘ with Sex and the City costars. Why do people assume all costars are friends anyway? How many of your coworkers do you consider your BFFs? It’s such a weird expectation…

-Well this is super disappointing: Ewan McGregor and his wife Eve Mavrakis have split after 22 years(!) of marriage following new photos that emerged of him kissing his Fargo costar, Mary Elizabeth Winstead.

Justin Timberlake has been announced for the Super Bowl halftime show and Twitter is not happy about it. There’s no way he DOESN’T invite Janet Jackson to perform with him though, right?!

-EW has an intense new clip from season two of Stranger Things, which drops on Netflix this weekend.

-Netflix sent TV critics all 9 episodes of season 2 of Stranger Things (no, I’m not calling it Stranger Things 2 like it’s a goddamn movie sequel, I don’t care what the Duffer Bros say), and the response seems to be ‘good, but not great’ which frankly, is way better than I was expecting. Sepinwall says it “mostly lives up to the original [season]”, NPR says “It’s not perfect, but I bet you watch the whole thing,” THR calls it “quite good and, if your expectations are in check, largely satisfying,” and Variety says “once the story kicks into a higher gear about halfway through the nine-episode season, a lot of the old magic returns.”

-Speaking of Netflix shows, should I be watching Mindhunter? Because every TV critic I follow seems to be in love with it

Justin Bieber‘s new tattoo is ginormous and covers his entire torso — and Beliebers  aren’t handling it well.

-Before next week’s David S. Pumpkins special, check out Vulture’s oral history on the origins of the sketch.

-Riverdale star Lili Reinhart apologized after tweeting photo of “racially insensitive” Halloween photo. Goddamn it, this happens with CW stars every. single. year.

-I kinda love that Drake had his 31st birthday party at Casa Loma.

-Of course John Stamos got engaged at Disneyland.

-If Jenny Slate and Chris Evans are dating again, they’re not trying to hide it.  Remember that next time she gives an interview about the sanctity of her privacy.

Taylor Swift dropped a preview of her new music video. Did she borrow Scarlett Johansson‘s nude suit from Ghost in the Shell??!

-Star Trek: Discovery was renewed for Season 2. There wasn’t really a question about whether it would survive, seeing as it’s anchoring CBS’s All Access subscription service, but I’d love to know its ratings.

-Here’s the first trailer for Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread, starring Daniel Day-Lewis.