Browsing Tag

Janelle Monae

THR’s Drama Actress Roundtable

Janelle Monae, Jennifer Aniston, Zendaya, Reese Witherspoon, Helena Bonham Carter and Rose Byrne
THR/Ramona Rosales

-This year’s Hollywood Reporter’s TV drama actress roundtable features Janelle Monae, Jennifer Aniston, Zendaya, Reese Witherspoon, Helena Bonham Carter and Rose Byrne. I love how Witherspoon, Aniston and Carter are all going on about how the pandemic has given them time to pause and think about the world and Monae says “For me and my people, for the Black community, this is not an exciting time. This isn’t a time that we get to really reflect. We’re dealing with a lot of trauma.”

Jenny Slate has exited Big Mouth. “Black characters on an animated show should be played by Black people. Me playing Missy, I was engaging in an act of erasure of Black people.” Your move, Kristen Bell.

Bryan Singer appears to still be preying on boys despite The Atlantic’s explosive expose about him last year. In a new thread, Elijah Daniel details how the disgraced director is still around and allegedly recruiting boys for trips to Hawaii, shifting his focus from aspiring actors to Instagram influencers. Minutes after posting the thread, images of boys with the tag #BryanSinger were scrubbed from Instagram.

Stephen Colbert interviewed John Bolton last night and did not get off his neck. It was glorious. “How did you not know beforehand that [Trump] was just callow? … You’re an international negotiator. How could you be naive? You’ve dealt with the worst people in the world.”

-The Globes’ TV critic John Doyle spilled some tea on Ben Mulroney and his thin skin in today’s paper. He talked about jokingly creating a ‘most annoying Cdn’ poll in 2003. Mulroney, who was hosting Canadian Idol at the time, tied with the guy from the Canadian Tire ads. “All in good fun. Some of the TV personalities on the list thought it was hilarious. One sent me a bouquet of flowers. I didn’t hear from Ben Mulroney directly of course. Oh my, no. I did hear from Senator Marjory LeBreton, the former deputy chief of staff in Brian Mulroney’s government. Her letter to the Editor-in-Chief and Publisher and CEO of this newspaper, also cc’d me, let me know there was umbrage taken at Ben Mulroney being teased in my column…There was certainly a call or two of complaint to the paper’s then Editor-in-Chief from Brian Mulroney.” While Doyle’s bosses were supportive of him, he says his counterpart at The Sun wasn’t so lucky: “Brian Mulroney was then on the board of Quebecor, which owned the Sun, and the Mulroney family complained to the paper’s bosses about the TV critic’s coverage of Ben. The writer was summoned to a meeting and told, ‘Never type the words ‘Ben Mulroney’ again.’ And he didn’t. He couldn’t.”

-Meanwhile, Lainey reiterated and expanded upon the apology she posted on today’s episode of The Social after her old posts were trending online. This is very well done.

Penn Badgley spoke about his You costar Chris D’Elia being accused of sexually harassing and grooming underage girls: “It did affect me deeply. I was very troubled by it. I am very troubled by it. I don’t know Chris. I know that, if there’s anything we need to do in this age, it’s to believe women.”

-Days of Our Lives’ Melissa Reeves has come under fire for her anti-Black Lives Matter stance. As someone who once made a scrapbook for Jack & Jennifer’s wedding in her youth, this is super disappointing.

-Brooklyn Nine-Nine is reportedly scrapping four episodes and starting over to focus more on BLM.

-Really liked this piece on how we think of — and what we want from — famous people is changing.

Roch Voisine was trending in Canada, and I’m so happy that it’s not because he has died… It’s because he’s turned into a stone cold daddy.

Timothee Chalamet and Eiza Gonzalez were spotted vacationing together in Mexico. How is anyone vacationing right now? I have so many questions.

-TIFF has unveiled the first details about this year’s film festival. It’ll be dramatically scaled down (50 features from last year’s 333), will feature some drive-in screenings, and will have a huge online component.

John Boyega responded to that viral marriage proposal.

-Netflix’s new cooking show Crazy Delicious is getting great buzz.

Padma Lakshmi’s Taste the Nation on Hulu is also getting good reviews.

-Eurovision Song Contest, starring Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams and dropping on Netflix this weekend, is getting mixed reviews. Variety says it’s “a badly shot one-joke movie that sits there and goes thud,” while Vulture calls it “glorious,” the Globe & Mail says “it’s barely a movie at all,” and Vanity Fair calls it “silly and fun.”

-Here’s the trailer for HBO Max’s Expecting Amy, a three-part documentary series following Amy Schumer as she juggles looming parenthood with her stand-up career.

-Here’s the first trailer for J.J. Abrams and Sara BareillesLittle Voice, Apple+’s coming-of-age musical drama.

-I can’t believe The Handmaid’s Tale is still limping along. Here’s the season 4 trailer.

Jessica Chastain is a rogue assassin in trailer for action movie Ava.

Batwoman’s Ruby Rose Leaves Show

 

-Batwoman’s Ruby Rose just quit the show! The CW superhero series will continue with a recast lead. I can’t remember another instance of a lead actor peacing out so early in a show’s run. There is definitely a story there…

-In her new Vanity Fair cover story, Janelle Monáe talks about taking over the lead of Amazon’s Homecoming, starring in the upcoming thriller Antebellum, her frustrations with how the government is handling the pandemic, and surviving isolation with her housemates “The Quaranteenagers.”

-Congrats to Rooney Mara and Joaquin Phoenix, who are reportedly expecting their first child.

-On his podcast, Brian Austin Green confirmed his separation from Megan Fox, saying he noticed she began acting distant after she came back from shooting a film last Thanksgiving. “She said, ‘You know what, I realized while I was out of the country working alone that I feel more like myself and I liked myself better during that experience. And I think that’s something that might be worth trying for me.’ I was upset about it, but I can’t be upset at her, and I wasn’t upset at her because she didn’t ask to feel that way.” He also addressed the rumors that the actress is now dating Machine Gun Kelly, saying: “She met this guy Colson on set on this film she’s working on. Goes by Machine Gun Kelly — I’ve never met him but you know, Megan and I have talked about him and they’re friends at this point.” Meanwhile, Us Weekly is reporting that they’re more than friends.

-It looks like the infamous Snyder Cut is upon us. I have never really enjoyed a Zach Snyder movie so I sure the hell have no desire to watch a 3.5 hour one, but fanboys are gonna fanboy.

Harry Styles enjoys a pre-pandemic day at the beach with models in the “Watermelon Sugar” video, which he says is “dedicated to touching.” I do appreciate that there is at least a couple of different body types (and boys!) in the mix.

Tekashi 6ix9ine is accusing Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande of buying the No. 1 spot on top of the charts. Bieber, Grande and Billboard are refuting those claims.

Matt Lauer wrote an op-ed in support of the NYT’s shaky hit piece on Ronan Farrow.  Not surprisingly, I’ve never heard of the outlet that agreed to run Lauer’s piece.

-A backlash is brewing over Bachelorette star Hannah Brown‘s use of the n-word when singing along to a song in an Instagram video.

-Congrats to Hawaii Five-O and Being Human star Meaghan Rath, who had a lovely looking quarantine wedding.

Mindy Kaling has been recruited by Reese Witherspoon to help write Legally Blonde 3.

Andrew Scott (aka Hot Priest) read a poem on Instagram called “Everything Is Going to Be Alright” and I found it very soothing.

-The cast of Umbrella Academy recreated their Tiffany dance to celebrate the second season coming to Netflix.

Elon Musk tweeted some crap about taking the red pill and Grimes‘ mother was quick to clapback, as was Matrix co-writer/director Lilly Wachowski.

-Country music star Paul Brandt will lead Alberta’s new human trafficking task force. I…um…yeah.

-This is a very lovely profile on Ben Schwartz, who most of us know from Parks and Rec and who can soon be seen in Netflix’s Space Force.

Stana Katic still isn’t sure why the hell ABC fired her from Castle.

-My god, the news of Lynn Shelton’s death is gutting. Her partner, comedian and actor Marc Maron, put out a statement.

Joe Rogan (a person I don’t particularly like who hosts a podcast I very much don’t like) is moving his podcast to Spotify exclusively. This is a huge get for Spotify and a peek at where the podcast world may be heading.

-The cast of Community did a table read for charity (Pedro Pascal subbed in for Walter Goggins!), and they all said they are down to do a movie.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Dazzling Comeback

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attended their first public engagement together today since their royal exit announcement and they were glowing. They attended the Endeavour Fund Awards, which honours military personnel and veterans, and were witness to a surprise proposal.

Katy Perry announced her pregnancy via the new music video for her song “Never Worn White,” which ends with her pulling a Beyonce and cradling her belly.

-Little Brown published Ronan Farrow’s Catch and Kill book and today its staff walked out to protest the fact that parent company Hachette is publishing Woody Allen’s book.

-Kids In The Hall are coming back! A revival is set for Amazon with all five stars returning.

-Oof, what is going on with the CW and how they’re parting ways with their leading men? First Stephen Amell talked about feeling disrespected while filming his big death scene in the final season of Arrow, and now Brandon Routh is opening up about his exit from Legends of Tomorrow. “I filmed my last episodes in the Arrowverse and as Ray Palmer, and that was a very traumatic event for me. It was not something I was expecting, it was shocking, it was not well-handled.” He also mentioned that on his final day of filming he didn’t get to act with any of his costars: “I was in the Atom suit, doing greenscreen with the crew. It was kind of a weird last day.”

-Queer Eye’s Jonathan Van Ness showed off his impressive figure skating moves on Insta.

Taylor Swift is donating $1M to the Middle Tennessee Emergency Response Fund following damage caused by the recent tornadoes in Tennessee.

This review of the new seasons of Better things points out one of my favourite things about the show: Sam’s ability to instantly make friends with strangers. I think I fell in love with the show in season two when she hopped in a golf cart at a resort, and then it cut to the next scene of her getting out of the golf cart while giving the driver a hug and congratulating him on his new grandchild.

-Now the Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker novelization is confirming that Rey‘s father is a failed Palpatine clone. Oh my god just STOP.

-After being in Bellevue Hospital for weeks, Harvey Weinstein is finally going to Rikers.

David Spade got the Just Shoot Me cast back together to shoot a video in which he proposes a reboot.

Elle Fanning says she celebrated her 21st birthday like a normal person — by throwing up repeatedly in an Uber.

-Netflix dropped its Love Is Blind reunion special, and some relationship statuses have changed since the finale.

-After controversies surrounding American Dirt and My Dark Vanessa, Oprah’s book club team decided it would not be moving forward with the novel.

-I don’t think blue light glasses actually work (I tried them and they gave me a headache) but Drew Barrymore’s line of them is very cute.

-The first full trailer for the horror flick Antebellum offers more Janelle Monáe.