Monthly Archives

August 2021

Behold: Elizabeth Debicki’s Princess Diana and Dominic West’s Prince Charles

-Netflix has released the first look of Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana and Dominic West as Prince Charles in Season 5 of The Crown. She looks incredible; him, not so much.

-Meanwhile, Kristen Stewart’s take on Princess Diana will hit theatres in Nov.

–Drake says he had covid last year and hair loss was a side effect that he’s just beginning to get over.

–Barbra Streisand is walking back her initial praise of Bradley Cooper‘s A Star is Born, now saying she would have preferred Beyoncé and Will Smith in the remake. “I thought it was the wrong idea,” the 79-year-old icon said of Cooper’s version on an Australian talk show. “Look, it was a big success. I can’t argue with success. But I don’t care so much about success as I do originality.”

-Good Girls’ Mae Whitman revealed she identifies as pansexual, tweeting: “I know ppl might be unfamiliar with what pansexual means; for me it means I know I can fall in love with people of all genders.”

-K-pop star and actor Kris Wu was arrested in China on suspicion of rape following an accusation from a then-17-year-old girl.

-Even though they’re both nominated in the same Emmys category, SNL’s Bowen Yang says he wants Kenan Thompson to win. “I know this is messy… and that someone on my team will be mad at me, but I’m just being real.” Thompson hold the record for the the longest serving SNL cast member and has only won once.

–Laura Prepon says she’s no longer a member of Scientology: “I haven’t practiced Scientology in close to five years and it’s no longer part of my life.”

-This is a fascinating read (though it ends somewhat abruptly) about a mysterious figure presumably in the publishing industry who has been stealing books before their release.

–Drew Barrymore (who knows a little something about overcoming a messy past) has weighed in on Britney Spears’ conservatorship. “I have very purposefully stayed out of this conversation, but, since she’s spoken up: She’s the key to her freedom.”

-Broadway’s Alice Ripley has been accused by a woman of grooming her when she was a teen (first in a viral Tiktok, and then in a longer Twitter thread).

–Eminem‘s first big acting role since 8 Mile will be in 50 Cent’s upcoming drama series, where he’ll play White Boy Rick.

-If you’ve finished The White Lotus finale, this interview with creator Mike White is worth your time. I like that he doesn’t offer any easy answers and is still kind of grappling with what he was trying to say. (I also very much liked this thread about the Armond character.)

-In relation to The White Lotus, this is an excellent piece on how TV’s white guys are in crisis.

-Congrats to The Flash’s Grant Gustin and his wife, who welcomed their first child — a baby girl named Juniper Grace.

-The first reactions to Shang-Chi are incredible. I hope the hype is enough to overcome the lackluster trailers and the fear of going to the movies.

–Bella Thorne and her real-life fiancé Benjamin Mascolo star in the Time Is Up trailer.

Lil Nas X Under Pressure

Lil Nas X in a white feathered sweater on the cover of Out

–Lil Nas X covers Out magazine and talks about the pressures of being a Black gay musician: “Mentally, it’s really draining and straining sometimes.”

–Pete Davidson and Bridgerton’s Phoebe Dynevor have reportedly split after five months of dating.

-Some people don’t like Lizzo‘s new song, but the body shaming she’s endured over it is insane and uncalled for. Cardi B came to her defense after she broke down on an IG Live.

–Johnny Depp says he feels he is being boycotted because his latest film, Minamata, has yet to be released in the United States, calling his fall from Hollywood graces as an “absurdity of media mathematics.” I mean, he’s about to be honoured by not one but two film festivals, but sure.

–Alicia Silverstone re-created a classic scene from Clueless wit a different Christian — Christian Siriano.

–Channing Tatum threw Sandra Bullock in a pool to celebrate production wrapping on The Lost City Of D (a movie I CANNOT WAIT to see).

–Madonna celebrated her 63rd birthday by announcing a new partnership with Warner Music Group that will see her entire catalog reissued over the next few years.

–Britney Spears isn’t the only celeb trapped in a conservatorship nightmare. Star Trek’s Nichelle Nichols, who played Lt. Uhura in the original series, has been under conservatorship since 2018, since her only child filed a petition for it. It’s a 3-way fight, with her former manager and a concerned friend legally battling for what they believe are her best interests.

–Chris Evans‘ new show on Middle Eastern politics seems really misguided and poorly timed.

-Stunt Coordinator Brett Chan talked about working on Netflix’s Iron Fist: “Everyone’s fighting and the main actor didn’t want to train, it’s like ‘Guys give me something to work with here.’ That’s why all the best sequences were with Jessica Henwick ’cause she trained 4 hours a day!’ ”

-I’m still in my feels from the first episode of Modern Love season 2. Minnie Driver made me bawl (and also wonder why she hasn’t been cast on a prestige drama yet).

-The xmas episode of Ted Lasso also made my heart grow three sizes.

-Also, the woman who plays Higgins’ wife in Ted Lasso is his wife IRL!

-Friends Michaela Coel and Cynthia Erivo were interviewed together for Vanity Fair, and Erivo tells a story about confronting a Broadway producer over the fact that they replaced her costar without warning her. “I go, ‘Why wouldn’t you tell me what’s going on?’ and he flies off the handle. Yells at me in the corridor, points at my face, says, ‘You don’t have the right to talk to me like this. You just do this show.’ And Michaela, this is after I’ve won the Tony.”

-Free Guy opened well ahead of expectations and grossed a healthy $28.4 million. (It wasn’t also available to stream immediately.)

-Meanwhile, Ryan Reynolds says Disney already confirmed they want a Free Guy sequel.

–The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” broke the record for the longest-charting song ever on the Billboard Hot 100, sitting at 88 straight weeks.

-The Good Place creator Michael Schur is working on adapting Field of Dreams into a TV series for Peacock, which seems like a match made in heaven.

-Despite rumors she would follow Scarlett Johansson’s lead and sue Disney, Emma Stone has signed onto Cruella 2. I wonder if the sequel was part of an unofficial settlement package?

-The cast of The Goldbergs paid tribute to George Segal.

–Michael Keaton and Stanley Tucci play lawyers fighting to compensate the families of 9/11 victims in the Worth trailer.

Lana Condor Fights for Change

lana condor on the cover of Shape magazine

–Lana Condor covers the new issue of Shape and talks about standing up to Asian hate (“Speaking up is important. It’s easy to be a bystander, but you could save a life if you stand up for someone”) and how she chooses projects (“I’m very calculated about the projects I take on now. I want to continue to show people who look like me that they can do whatever they want to, regardless of what someone might have told them”).

-Mad Men alum (and Alexis Bledel‘s husband) Vincent Kartheiser is in the new season of Titans but is not in the poster or the press tour because his stint on the show triggered at least two complaints and two internal investigations, reports Deadline. He was accused of disruptive, juvenile behavior and outbursts, and inappropriate comments on the Toronto set. (His rep denies the claims.)

-The viral exchange between Don Cheadle and Kevin Hart encapsulates the Gen X mood. My favourite part is Hart’s IMMEDIATE and quiet “I’m sorry.” With one look from Cheadle, the man knew he had messed up. (They’re friends so I’m sure it’s a bit, but this is still hilariously awkward.)

-Hart also scored an interview with Cameron Diaz.

–Maggie Q says “I never really dated. I’m so bad at [that]. I’m really shy when it comes to that kind of stuff. I never really get asked out on dates and go on a date. I just don’t do it.” She was previously engaged to Dylan McDermott, and I saw her a few times with a guy when she was shooting Nikita here, but I guess everyone’s definition of “dating” is different.

–Lizzo and Cardi B are giving us something to talk about. The Hustlers costars collab on Lizzo’s new song “Rumours” (her first in two years!), and dropped a video for it today.

-Meanwhile, Lizzo and Chris Evans might finally meet IRL. She said, “He did say he will come to a show, and I was like, okay, shots on me. And he said, ‘no shots on me.’ ”

-The Crown’s Emma Corrin is opening up about gender identity and fluidity. “I think that we’re so used to defining ourselves. And that’s the way, sadly, society works, is within these binaries, and it’s taken me a long time to realize that I exist somewhere in between. And I’m still not sure where that is yet.”

–Kelly Clarkson scored a big win: a judge upheld her prenup.

–Ethan Hawke says he’s joining the Marvel universe because Oscar Isaac recruited him in their neighborhood in Brooklyn. “I was at a coffee shop, he came up to me. He’s like, ‘Hey, I really liked The Good Lord Bird.’ I was like ‘Oh, cool, I really like your work. You’re amazing.’ He’s like, ‘Hey, want to be in the Moon Knight with me?’ I was like … yeah!”

–Kevin Costner participated in the Field of Dreams baseball game. This kind of got to me in a way that I wasn’t expecting.

-In surprise move, Amazon is moving its $1B Lord of the Rings production from New Zealand to the UK for season 2. It will have to give up hundreds of millions in rebates/incentives from the NZ government.

-SNL alum  Horatio Sanz was hit with a lawsuit accusing him of grooming and groping a teen fan.

-The mid-season finale of Gossip Girl aired this week (the season’s second half will air in the fall). I gave up on this one a few episodes in because it was burning through storylines faster than I could care about them. The way critics talk, it sounds like I’m not missing much.

-FX ordered American Story spin-offs about love and sports. The first installment of “American Love Story” will tell a scripted tale about John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy (I’m SO curious about the casting of this one), while American Sports Story will focus on former NFL player and convicted murderer Aaron Hernandez.

-Meanwhile, here’s the first trailer for Impeachment: American Crime Story. Beanie Feldstein plays Monica Lewinsky, Edie Falco plays Hillary Clinton, Clive Owen plays Bill Clinton, Sarah Paulson plays Linda Tripp, Cobie Smulders plays Ann Coulter and Billy Eichner plays Matt Drudge.