Monthly Archives

January 2018

Blackish’s Tracee Ellis Ross Paid “Significantly Less” Than Costar

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-Well, this is crap: a Times Up meeting has revealed that Tracee Ellis Ross is paid “significantly less” than Anthony Anderson for Blackish.

-Just because Kim Kardashian posted an Instagram photo about Louis Vuitton, it doesn’t mean that’s what she named her new baby.

-Is Michelle Williams engaged?

-Here’s the trailer for the new series Heathers, which is based on the movie. I dunno, guys…

–Carrie Coon is expecting her first child. I’m happy for her, but if that means she’s taking some time off from starring in every TV show then I’m sad for me.

-Stranger Things star David Harbour will officiate a fan’s wedding after her tweet goes viral.

–Michael Douglas took the rare step of preemptively denying sexual misconduct, and now we know why: The Hollywood Reporter published a story in which Susan Braudy alleges he masturbated in front of her while she was working for the him during the late 1980s.

-This deep-dive into the Aziz Ansari controversy is an interesting read. Not only did the story reveal some pretty disheartening opinions about consent, but it also made it clear how much it matters which outlets are covering this issue and how. (Clearly Babe.net didn’t know how to handle this story.)

-Meanwhile, The Good Place actress Jameela Jamil wrote a great piece on her website called “What We Need to Learn from the Aziz Ansari Clusterfuck,” in which she writes: “Our society, the internet, and even our most mainstream media, constantly perpetuate the idea that men do not need to worry about what our needs and boundaries are. They just need technical consent, however that consent is acquired. CONSENT SHOULDN’T BE THE GOLD STANDARD.”

-In last night’s opening, Samantha Bee  ripped into Aziz and how people are using it to detract from the Me Too movement. (“[Men], if you say you’re a feminist, then f**k like a feminist. And if you don’t wanna do that, take off your f**cking pin, because we are not your accessories.”) She also talked about the Shitty Media Men list, which I don’t think any other late night hosts have touched.

–Matt Damon said this week on the Me Too movement: “Boy, I really wish I’d listened a lot more before I weighed in on this.” We wish that too, Matt.

-The Love, Simon trailer is very charming. I liked that book (Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda) a lot.

Ellen Pompeo Reveals Why She’s TV’s $20 Million Woman

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-If you read any long form article today, read THR’s cover story on Ellen Pompeo. It’s a refreshingly candid about the negotiations that made her the highest paid actress on television. She spills some McDreamy tea, revealing how Patrick Dempsey was used as leverage against her in salary negotiations “for years”. (“At one point, I asked for $5,000 more than him just on principle, because the show is Grey’s Anatomy and I’m Meredith Grey. They wouldn’t give it to me.”) It’s such a refreshingly blunt, entertaining and empowering read on recognizing your worth and fighting for it.

–Kim Kardashian is a new mom! She brought her newborn daughter home.

–Justin Timberlake said he ‘absolutely’ made peace with Janet Jackson after the Super Bowl incident. Maybe that’s true, but he certainly didn’t do it publicly, did he?

–Selena Gomez’s mother says she tried to convince her not work with Woody Allen, but it “fell on deaf ears.”

–Timothée Chalamet donated his salary from a Woody Allen film to #TimesUp and other charities. I’m actually surprised that he didn’t seem to get as much blow back for working with him as others have.

-Meanwhile, Dylan Farrow talked about her desire to take Woody Allen down. “Why shouldn’t I be angry? Why shouldn’t I be hurt? Why shouldn’t I feel some sort of outrage that after all these years — being ignored and disbelieved and tossed aside?”

–Arnold Schwarzenegger says if he and the cast had known about Eliza Dushku‘s claim while filming True Lies, he says, “you bet your ass all of us would have done something.”

-Meanwhile, two more women have accused Joel Kramer of misconduct.

–Catherine Zeta-Jones spoke out about Michael Douglas‘ preemptive sexual harassment denial.

-In news that is no way shocking, James Franco’s Twitter stripper movie is now on hold.

–Paul Scheer made fun of a romance novel’s cover and the genre’s fans called him out on it — so he ended up reading it, live-tweeting it and loving it. I adore this story.

-I don’t watch James Spader‘s TV show, but I will watch him tell crazy stories on talk shows.

-A Harry Potter fan-fiction film about Voldemort’s origin has over 4 million views.

-American Crime Story: Versace is getting great reviews — but it is nothing like The People vs OJ Simpson.

-Speaking of TV shows that are getting great reviews, everyone’s loving CW’s Black Lightning.  I was really taken by last night’s pilot (which got good ratings) and I hope they can sustain it.

–Leslie Jones reveals that she wasn’t faking it during that SNL skit with James Franco when it looked like she was trying not to puke.

–Gabrielle Union’s new movie seems like Panic Room meets John Wick and I’m HERE FOR IT!

Cranberries’ Dolores O’Riordan Dead at 46

-Well, this is terrible: Cranberries singer Dolores O’Riordan has died at 46. As of now, her death is being treated as ‘unexplained.’

-This weekend, Buffy’s Elisha Dushku wrote a Facebook post alleging that the head stuntman on True Lies molested her when she was just 12. Her mother and on-set legal guardian corroborated her claims (which he denies). Jamie Lee Curtis, who played her mother in the film, says the actress told her about it “a few years ago.”

-The story about Aziz Anzari’s bad date caused some major debate this weekend. I’m not really sure where it fits into the #TimesUp movement, but whether you think it was assault or not, one thing has been made very clear: we need to teach boys what consent looks like. I feel like ever since the Cat Person story went viral a few weeks ago, consent has been a big topic in every discussion I have with female friends and most women I know seems to have a story about following “the path of least resistance” to get out of this kind of situation. For eloquent threads on this topic, see here, here, here and here. When it comes to Aziz, the thing that rankles most for me is that he MADE A CAREER out of dating advice. He wrote a book about it and sold out Madison Square Gardens on his speaking tour. The other concern I have is that in conversations about who’s next, his name has come up a lot in recent weeks. If something more substantial breaks, I worry that there’s now going to be an immediate reaction of “oh, women are just out to get him/piling on now.”

–Aziz has issued a statement, saying after the incident “I took her words to heart.”

–Liam Neeson called the Hollywood sexual harassment movement “a bit of a witch hunt.” Byeeeeee!

–Leah Remini is pointing to Scientology as a potential instigator for the Paul Haggis allegations.

-It turns out that public shaming still works. Mark Wahlberg finally announced that he’s donating his $1.5 million to Time’s Up; WME is donating an additional $500K.  Michelle Williams released a perfect statement that kept the spotlight off her and on the cause.

–Katy Perry overcame her hatred of Medieval Times this weekend. (Who hates Medieval Times? It’s literally one of my favourite places on earth. I’m always having to piggyback on my friends with kids’ outings, cause apparently going by yourself as an adult is “creepy.” Pfffftttt.)

-The hottest comic con photo opp pose to do with stars is currently the distracted boyfriend meme, and I couldn’t be happier. Here’s the casts of Arrow and Avengers taking a crack at it. (Also, did you know that people ship Bucky and Steve? And their ship name is Stucky? I just learned this and it makes me irrationally happy.)

–Dakota Johnson and Chris Martin: still a thing. I can’t imagine a more boring couple. Can their ship name just be Beige?

-Hulu is now streaming ER (which weirdly has never been on a streaming site before). Now if someone could add Felicity and Sports Night, I’d be in heaven.

-Seriously guys, the Proud Mary rollout is insane. There is some conspiracy-level stuff going on.

-I don’t need another CW superhero show in my life, but I guess I’m getting one because the reviews for Black Lighting are great.

-Supergirl’s Melissa Benoist addressed the Andrew Kreisberg firing at the TCA, calling his alleged misconduct “a major disappointment.”

-Groupon getting Tiffany Haddish to be in their Super Bowl commercial makes so much sense. She’s basically been giving them free advertising on her talk show circuit.

–Jon Hamm negotiates a dangerous trade in the war-torn Middle East in the Beirut trailer.