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Jessica Mulroney

Ben Mulroney Takes a Step Back — Sort of

–Ben Mulroney stepped down as an anchor from eTalk this morning, following his wife’s racist actions. “I love my wife. However, it is not my place to speak for her and today, together, we are committed to doing the work to both learn and understand more about anti-Black racism as well as learn and understand more about our blind spots.” He added that he hopes eTalk will replace him with a more diverse voice. Interestingly, he will still do red carpet events for eTalk (i.e. – the plum assignments) and stay on as host of CTV’s Your Morning.

-Also, this is from The Sun so take it with a giant grain of salt, but they’re reporting that he was surprised by the lack of support from his coworkers. “Although some coworkers reached out, he was surprised many didn’t bother, despite the fact he’s worked there for 18 years. It was only decided last night he would step down from etalk.”

-In the final hours of Juneteenth 2020, Beyonce surprised the world with a new song called Black Parade. Lyrics include “Trust me, they gon’ need an army / Rubber bullets bouncin’ off me” and “Made a picket sign off your picket fence / Take it as a warning?”

-Variety’s Actors on Actors interviews are taking place over Zoom this year, and first up is Jennifer Aniston and Lisa Kudrow. Aniston talks about her character’s breakdown in the last episode of The Morning Show, while Kudrow says she hasn’t rewatched Friends because she’s hoping to sit down with the cast one day and watch it together.

-RIP, director Joel Schumacher. Not only did he give us movies like Lost Boys, St. Elmo’s Fire and two Batman films, he also gifted us with that Vulture interview where he said he’d slept with 20k people, claimed Tommy Lee Jones was an asshole, and said Val Kilmer was psychotic.

-Speaking of Batman, this is wild: Michael Keaton is reportedly in talks to replace Ben Affleck as the DCEU’s Batman, appearing in The Flash movie. I love the idea of Keaton taking up the cowl again, but I’m surprised that the Flashpoint film is going forward following the Erza Miller stuff.

-Accusations of sexual assault by celebs were flying fast and furious on Twitter this weekend. Two users accused Justin Bieber of alleged incidents in 2014 and 2015 and he responded to one of them with 15(!) tweets about why he couldn’t have been there.

-Meanwhile, Riverdale’s Cole Sprouse and Lili Reinhart are denying accusations of sexual assault that surfaced on Twitter over the weekend.

–Ansel Elgort broke his silence on last week’s sexual assault claims on Sunday with an Instagram post, saying the relationship in question was “brief, legal and entirely consensual.” He says he ghosted her, implying that’s why she’s retaliated.

-After last week’s Twitter outcry, five women talked to the Chicago Tribune to detail Chris D’Elia’s alleged sexual improprieties.

-The Golden Globes, hosted by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, just announced a move from Jan 5 to Feb 28, 2021, Oscar’s original airdate.

-This is a great story about how two guys made their short film the top-grossing movie, even though they filmed it entirely on Zoom with a budget of zero dollars, and only screened it once at a single theater.

–Brad Pitt surprised a sanitation worker on Harry Connick Jr.’s CBS special.

-Netflix announced that Lucifer will return in August — and they did it with a super horned up video.

-K-pop fans may not have prevented people from going to Trump’s rally, but they did basically make any data the campaign was hoping to use for retargeting junk.

–Jon Stewart’s Irresistible, starring Steve Carell and Rose Bryne, is getting bad reviews. One critic tweeted it’s “stupefyingly bad & unfunny.”

-The Hamilton trailer has landed. On Twitter, Lin-Manuel Miranda explained that they dropped two of the show’s three f-words in order to get a Disney+ approved PG-13 rating.

 

Daisy Edgar-Jones’ Abnormal Press Tour

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-Normal People’s Daisy Edgar-Jones covers Porter, and the accompanying interview is a delight. She talks about bonding with costar Paul Mescal (“He’ll be a friend for life”), shooting those revealing sex scenes (“You need more protection because it is a stunt, with physical manoeuvres that you need to make look realistic – just like in a fight scene”), and the odd circumstances of her first press tour (“It’s a different thing when you can do it from the comfort of your bedroom, and then can go and have a cup of tea. It’s probably a nice way to ease into it, so if I have another one, I’ll know how to light myself, at least!”)

–This video from 1983 of David Bowie grilling an MTV VJ on why they don’t play more Black artists is gold.

-Lainey waited until CTV aired their special on racism this weekend before commenting on how Jessica Mulroney wielded her white privilege over Sasha Exeter, but she posted about it today — and what a post it is. It’s long but it is well worth your time. This is brave, ballsy stuff, especially considering she’s coworkers with Jessica’s husband, Ben, on eTalk. There is a lot to digest and unpack here, but I was particularly struck by her comments about how she and Ben are not friends outside of work and this situation hasn’t helped (“I think he’s probably mad at me”), how the Mulroney camp appears to be keeping watch — and possibly chastising — people who’ve “liked” Exeter’s posts, and how more stories about Jessica might be coming but people are worried about retribution (“Before last week, before Sasha Exeter told her story, there were a lot of people in Canadian media with their own Jessica Mulroney stories. Some of them are thinking of telling them now after Sasha opened the door. But they don’t work with her husband.”) The text is juicy; the subtext even more so.

-Lainey also talked about the story on today’s episode of The Social. She mentioned how many media outlets are mischaracterizing it as a “disagreement,” while cohost Marci Ien (who is Sasha’s aunt) said, “the whole idea that someone can be threatening, bullying and feel like there are no consequences is something we really need to think about…Those times are over. There are consequences now.” Melissa Grelo also talked about how difficult it is to call out people you know: “The closer it is to home, the more discomfort arises. But that is what allyship should be. It shouldn’t be easy. The fact is, I am so uncomfortable sitting here and talking about this and if I’m perfectly honest, I’m really scared, too. Because this is within our circle of work – or friendship, for some people. And it has caused utter chaos.”

-This is a really good piece on how some white celebrities have been falling all over themselves to demonstrate “allyship” on social media, and how the price of having a huge platform has gone up. “Technology has given fans direct access to their faves’ ‘unfiltered thoughts,’ and what we’ve been seeing in the past few weeks is a paltry understanding of what’s really going on.”

-I somehow missed John David Washington‘s Esquire cover last week. His $200 million summer tentpole movie Tenet has pushed back its theatrical debut by two weeks to July. It boggles my mind that they’re still going to try to release it this summer. I don’t usually support piracy but I completely agree with this take: the studio is weaponizing FOMO for big opening weekend numbers and it’s going to get people killed.

-Meanwhile, the Oscars ceremony is getting pushed back by two months, with eligibility extended until the end of Feb instead of the end of Dec.

-Jurassic World: Dominion is the first major studio film that plans to resume production. Universal is set to pay $5 million on safety precautions and return to filming in July.

-The guilds have released protocols for what returning to work should look like.

-Insecure wrapped its fourth (and best) season last night. Loved the episode, did not love the last couple of minutes.

–Josh Gad managed to get the original cast of Ghostbusters together for a Zoom reunion.

-The trailer for Canada’s Drag Race is here and it looks likes fun!

-Netflix dropped the season 2 trailer for The Politician. Did anyone actually finish all of season 1?

Jessica Mulroney Gets Called Out

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-We’ve got ourselves a homegrown scandal! Blogger/influencer Sasha Exeter called out Jessica Mulroney (wife of Ben Mulroney, BFF of Meghan Markle) over her white privilege and ‘threatening’ behavior yesterday in an Instagram video, saying: “One very prominent Canadian figure who used to be an acquaintance of mine named Jessica Mulroney took offense to a very generic call to action that I shared on my IG Stories. And what happened next was a series of very problematic behavior and antics that ultimately resulted in her sending me a threat in writing last Wednesday, June the 3rd.” She added that Mulroney reportedly threatened to speak with Exeter’s brand partners and interfere with her livelihood if she didn’t modify her BLM posts/tone. Exeter then posted a story that says “Here’s what happens when you call out someone with privilege and wealth. They publicly apologize on your post to preserve their image while privately threaten a lawsuit to try and shut you up” followed by a screenshot of a DM seemingly from Mulroney sent at 2:24am that says “Liable suit. Good luck.” [sic]

-Following an initial apology in the comments, this afternoon Mulroney posted a lengthy apology on Instagram. She does not mention her alleged legal threat.

-Meanwhile, CTV just announced that they are removing Mulroney‘s show about weddings from their schedule because her “recent conduct…conflicts with our commitment to diversity and equality.” Hudson’s Bay also announced she would no longer represent the company or Kleinfeld Canada as a fashion and bridal specialist. Good Morning America, where she often does style segments, has yet to comment.

-Daytime lifestyle show Cityline also issued a statement, saying: “Cityline fans – we want you to let you know that Jessica Mulroney will no longer be appearing as a guest expert on our show.”  Cityline’s host Tracy Moore, who’s friends with Mulroney, called her out on IG for using “her extreme privilege to potentially bury a Black sister.”

-In other news, Kelly Clarkson has filed for divorce from her husband after 7 years of marriage.

-This Janelle Monae Variety cover is divine! She talks about her support for charities during the pandemic, the importance of showing an interracial queer couple on her season of Homecoming, and the need for white people to step up and support Black voices.

-Country band Lady Antebellum has changed their name to Lady A.

-Glee actor Samantha Ware explained why she chose to call out Lea Michele. “Does Lea even know what a microaggression is? I don’t know. All that her apology did was affirm that she hasn’t learned anything. Am I calling Lea a racist? No. Does Lea have racist tendencies? I think Lea suffers from a symptom of living in this world in an industry that is tailored to white people.”

-This is a very good piece on how the gatekeeping has to change in Hollywood. “I don’t and never will want my pain, Black pain, to be fetishized or consumed by white traumavores. I’ve been too patient for too long, and that patience has run out.”

–This supercut of Sohla in the Bon Appetit test kitchen proving she has more skills and knowledge than her white colleagues (who were paid for their video appearances while she wasn’t) is devastating.

-Look, it’s not as bad as the “Imagine” video, but this clip of white actors speaking about BLM is still pretty cringe-y because they’re all ACTING. SO. MUCH. I guess they haven’t had an outlet for a while. At least this one was done by the NAACP and the link at the end is to donate to Color of Change, Bail Project and other charities.

-County health officials have approved film and television production to recommence this week, and every showrunner I follow on Twitter is like NOPE!

-Whenever TV does come back, don’t expect to see as many sex scenes, fight scenes, or extras.

–Pete Davidson will appear in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, alongside Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, and John Cena.

–Anna Kendrick remembers her time on the Twilight films as “cold and miserable,” saying “I just remember my Converse being completely soaked through and feeling like, ‘You know, this is a really great group of people and I’m sure that we would be friends at a different time, but I want to murder everyone.”

-Here’s the full trailer for Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, the Netflix film starring Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams.