I first interviewed Sera Johnston on March 1, 2019, and thought this would be my last story at @BuzzFeedNews— @adambvary then took over.
Today, it finally lives, and I'm grateful to our former editors — and to Sera most of all — for sticking with it. https://t.co/HdGSJ7vtRo
— Kate Aurthur (@KateAurthur) March 2, 2020
-Late this afternoon, Buzzfeed published an interview with Sera Johnston, a Canadian ex-model who claims actor Timothy Hutton and his friend raped her in 1983 when she was 14 and they were in their 20s. Buzzfeed spoke with a friend she told only a few days after the night in question, Johnston’s mother, and three more friends. They all, separately, confirmed that she told them the actor had raped her in his hotel room. Before he died, her ex-stepfather also told an investigator that Johnston had told him it was “flat out rape.” Hutton “completely and unequivocally denies” Johnston’s allegations. After being informed that BuzzFeed News was going to publish the story, the actor spoke with the FBI — according to his spokesperson, to report Johnston for attempted extortion.
–Harvey Weinstein has yet to arrive at prison on Rikers Island. He was admitted to Bellevue hospital apparently because of high blood pressure, where he’s been spotted sitting in a comfy leather armchair watching TV and walking around the facility unencumbered.
-Meanwhile a memoir by Woody Allen, rumored for years and once thought unpublishable in the #MeToo era, is coming out next month.
–Adèle Haenel, one of France’s most prominent young actresses and the star of Portrait of a Lady on Fire, walked out after Roman Polanski won the best director award at the Césars (France’s version of the Oscars). Her director Céline Sciamma and several others followed. Haenel, who recently revealed was abused while working as a child actress in the country’s film industry, could be heard exclaiming “Bravo, pedophilia!”
-In a sit-down event with Oprah this weekend, Jennifer Lopez talked about her Oscar snub. “I was sad. I was a little sad because there was a lot of buildup to it…And I’m reading all the articles, and I’m like, ‘Oh, my God. Could this happen?’ And then it didn’t, and I was like, ‘Ouch.’ It was a little bit of a letdown…Most of my team has been with me for years — 20, 25 years — and I think they had a lot of hopes on that. They wanted it, too. I felt like I let everybody down a little bit.”
–Megan Thee Stallion claims her label has been messing with the release of her new music since she tried to renegotiate her contract (which she signed back when she was 20) in the midst of her newfound success.
–Howard Stern got Harry Styles to break his silence on getting robbed at knifepoint last month. He said a group of guys with their hoods up approached him and demanded cash, and then told him to unlock his phone and give it to them. “I thought about throwing it in the pond to just be like, ‘Neither of us have it.’ Then I thought, ‘I don’t want to piss them off’. There were, like, two cars coming, and I just felt an opportunity and I just sprinted and ran. I ran into the road and I tried to stop a car…[Then I] turned and ran toward the village where I live…I guess because they had some cash and stuff they ended up just turning around.”
–Adam Levine is apologizing after having a rough Maroon 5 concert in Chile. He blamed technical issues: “There were some things holding me back sonically last night, and I let them get to me, and it impacted how I was behaving on stage, which was unprofessional, and I apologize for that.” At one point, he reportedly got angry that the audience was singing along to “She Will Be Loved” and told the crowd, “Well, if you want to do my job, go ahead.” But, you know, technical issues.
–John Mulaney‘s SNL episode was the show’s best in a while. The sketch of the night was the eight minute-long Broadway-style musical about a man who bought sushi at LaGuardia Airport.
-Also, this behind-the-scenes moment with Jake Gyllenhaal and Larry David is very cute.
–Jessica Biel was spotted out shopping this weekend — sans wedding ring.
–Drake dropped two new songs this weekend: “When to Say When” and “Chicago Freestyle”.
-I will never be as cool as Christine Baranski is, and I’ve come to accept that.
-Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard says he’s been freaked out by adult fans. “When I was 13, some adults followed me back to my condo when I was shooting It. I was by myself. As I walked faster, they walked faster, and I was getting a bit antsy by the time I got to the door. Suddenly, they were like, ‘Hey, dude, can we get a selfie?’ And I was like, ‘No you can’t have a selfie! How about don’t follow children?'”
-Here’s a roundup of all the cringey things Pete Davidson had to say about Ariana Grande in his new Netflix special.
–This thread from a Disney animator in which he credits his coworkers for individual shots in Frozen 2 is wonderful.
-Inside the Actor’s Studio host James Lipton passed away early this morning at his home in Manhattan from bladder cancer. He was 93.
-The novelization of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker confirms the kiss between Rey and Ben Solo wasn’t meant to be romantic. If you have to retroactively explain your movie this much, maybe you didn’t hit it out of the park? This is my absolute fave tweet about it.
–John Boyega complaining while working out with his trainer is oh so relatable. “I could have been an architect, Tim! I’d be fat, have man tits, big little nipples, and a lovely wife who loves me for who I am. That’s what I should have done. This is what ambition gets you.”
-The first few month of this year have been a shitshow, but things are looking up: Meghan Markle is planning on attending the Met Gala in May.
–Elisabeth Moss‘ new horror flick Invisible Man exceeded expectations at the box office, thanks to good reviews and word-of-mouth. It scared up a stellar $29 million in its North American box office debut and $20.2 million overseas — on a $7M budget.
–Joey King plays one of the the girls taking their employer to court after contracting radiation poisoning at work in the trailer for Radium Girls.
