Browsing Tag

Kanye West

Christine Baranski’s Good Fight

christine baranski townandcountry mag

-Any day there’s a new Christine Baranski photoshoot is a good day. She talks about her habit of playing  imperious grande dames: “It’s funny because I’m from this blue-collar neighborhood in Buffalo. I don’t know how it happened.”

-Meanwhile, I haven’t watched The Gilded Age premiere yet, but it’s probably a bad sign that the two reviews I read about it quoted Aretha Franklin’s “Great gowns, beautiful gowns.”

Kim Kardashian may have gotten famous thanks to a sex tape, but she’s denying Kanye West’s claims that there is more footage of her and Ray J.

Kanye West reportedly thinks Kim Kardashian‘s relationship with Pete Davidson is “fake” and he’s sick of the family making “up story lines for their lives.” Wouldn’t it be hilarious if he were the one to pull back the curtain on what makes the Kardashian empire tick?

-Speaking of hilarious, he’s also reportedly been dissing Pete Davidson for looking like he gets his clothes ‘from the mall.’

Cheryl Hines responded to a tweet about her husband, saying “My husband’s opinions are not a reflection of my own. While we love each other, we differ on many current issues.” Ok, but her hubby Robert Kennedy Jr. just compared vax and mask mandates to the Holocaust, so it’s a bit bigger than a difference of opinion. (She’s been shooting the second season of The Flight Attendant so she’s presumably vaxxed.)

Cardi B won a defamation verdict against a YouTuber who spread rumors of herpes and shocking sex acts. The rapper won $1.25 million damages, with possibly more on the way.

Paris Hilton and Jimmy Fallon comparing their Bored Apes NFTs is really disturbing. How are we normalizing this?!

Tiffany Haddish joked about her recent DUI arrest while on Jimmy Fallon‘s show. “I can say this, Jimmy…I’ve been praying to God to send me a new man. A good man. And God went ahead and sent me four—in uniform.”

-Speaking of Haddish, Girls Trip is finally getting a sequel.

-I kinda love that Angelina Jolie takes her 13-year-old daughter shopping at Urban Outfitters.

Peter Dinklage recently called Snow White a “f—ing backward story about seven dwarfs living in a cave,” saying he was “taken aback” that the new adaptation was moving forward. Disney has responded, “We are taking a different approach with these seven characters and have been consulting with members of the dwarfism community.”

-A source in Olivia Munn‘s camp tells Us Weekly that her and John Mulaney’s relationship has been strengthened since their son’s birth in November.

-Deadline’s Read the Screenplay series is a really great way to read the scripts from this year’s movie awards race. What an excellent resource for anyone hoping to break into the writing biz.

Alicia Witt opened up about the sudden passing of her parents, who were both found dead in their home days before Christmas. Reports suggest a space heater may have caused their deaths, and the actress said, “I hadn’t been allowed inside my parents’ home for well over a decade; every time I offered to have something repaired for them, they refused to allow workers into their house.”

-CBS renewed Ghosts, and this is the cute way they told the cast.

Sydney Sweeney credits Euphoria creator Sam Levinson for agreeing to cut out some of her topless scenes from the second season. “There are moments where Cassie was supposed to be shirtless and I would tell Sam, ‘I don’t really think that’s necessary here.’ He was like, ‘OK, we don’t need it.’ I’ve never felt like Sam has pushed it on me or was trying to get a nude scene into an HBO show. When I didn’t want to do it, he didn’t make me.” I mean, I’d suggest maybe the writers shouldn’t have including so many topless Cassie scenes in the first place, but everything about Euphoria this season puts me in old lady prude mode.

John Krasinski has cast his Office costar Steve Carrell in his new movie.

-Bravo finally axed Jennie Ngyuen from RHOSLC, saying “We recognize that we failed to take action once her offensive social media posts were brought to our attention.” Controversial social media posts appearing to promote White Lives Matter from 2020 resurfaced this week.

Franz Ferdinand is back! Here’s their new music video.

Marilyn Manson‘s attorney has issued a statement denying Evan Rachel Wood‘s allegation that he raped her on camera during a 2007 music video shoot. “Brian did not have sex with Evan on that set, and she knows that is the truth.”

Neil Young is demanding Spotify remove his music over their partnership with Joe Rogan. (Young almost died of polio as a kid before the vaccine came out and the illness affected his life for years, so him fighting against vax misinformation makes sense.)

-Based on buzz, it feels like the Sundance movies everyone is talking about are Palm Trees And Power Lines (which is getting lots of Red Rocket comparisons), Cha Cha Real Smooth (a crowd-pleaser starring Dakota Johnson), and Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (a two-hander with Emma Thompson and Daryl McCormack).

Emma Thompson talked about doing her first fully nude scene in Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, in which she plays a widowed school teacher who hires a young male escort. “I don’t think I could’ve done it before the age that I am.”

-I was not expecting the hottest new trend in Hollywood to be following Greek philosopher Epictetus’ advice on stoicism.

-I had no idea there was a Jamie Foxx-directed comedy where Robert Downey Jr. plays a Mexican. It seems like it won’t see the light of day.

Ewan McGregor plays a story-telling cricket in the first teaser for Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio.

-Here’s the trailer for the first Tiger King series, Peacock’s Joe vs Carole, which stars Kate McKinnon as Carole Baskin and John Cameron Mitchell as Joe Exotic.

Taylor Swift Claps Back at Damon Albarn

Taylor Swift is NOT happy that Blur/Gorillaz’s Damon Albarn said in a new interview that she doesn’t write her own songs. (When the interviewer tried to correct him, he said, “That doesn’t count. I know what co-writing is. Co-writing is very different to writing. I’m not hating on anybody, I’m just saying there’s a big difference between a songwriter and a songwriter who co-writes. Doesn’t mean that the outcome can’t be really great.”) Swift tweeted in response, “I was such a big fan of yours until I saw this. I write ALL of my own songs. Your hot take is completely false and SO damaging. You don’t have to like my songs but it’s really fucked up to try and discredit my writing. WOW. PS I wrote this tweet all by myself in case you were wondering.”

Jack Antonoff added: “I’ve never met damon albarn and he’s never been to my studio but apparently he knows more than the rest of us about all those songs taylor writes and brings in. if you were there … cool … go off. if not … maybe …. shut the f–k up?”

-Likely feeling the heat from Swifties, Albarn quickly jumped onto Twitter to try to diffuse the situation, posting “I totally agree with you. i had a conversation about songwriting and sadly it was reduced to clickbait. I apologise unreservedly and unconditionally. The last thing I would want to do is discredit your songwriting.” I mean, it was a Q&A so I don’t really see how things were taken out of context but sure, man.

-Also, lots of people are pointing out how many co-writers he had on his last album, and also that Billie Eilish (who he praised in the interview) co-writes with her brother. Why bother going after one of the world’s biggest female singers in the first place, let alone when you don’t have a leg to stand on?

Garrett Hedlund is having a rough few days. Sources confirmed to People the rumours that have been floating around for a while that he’d split from baby mama Emma Roberts, and on Saturday he was arrested in Tennessee for public intoxication.

Evan Rachel Wood details more alleged abuse by Marilyn Manson in her HBO documentary Phoenix Rising, which debuted at Sundance. She accuses him of violently dragging her through a hotel, says he threatened to “fuck up my whole family from the bottom up, starting with my dad,” and says she was “essentially raped on camera” during the filming of Manson’s 2007 video “Heart-Shaped Glasses.”

Kristen Stewart says she and fiancée Dylan Meyer celebrated their engagement before things started locking down again. “We were kind of moving about the world a little more freely at the time. We did have an engagement party, which was nice and lucky and obviously not something we could have done now so I’m thankful for that.”

Kanye West and Julia Fox rocked some Canadian tuxedos in Paris.

-After Emilio Estevez bowed out of the Mighty Ducks series amid rumours that he disagreed with its covid protocols, Josh Duhamel has stepped in for season two.

Eric Clapton continues to try to drive any remaining fans away, claiming people vaccinated against covid are under ‘mass formation hypnosis.’

Adele apologized to some fans with Facetime calls after she abruptly postponed her Vegas residency.

-The Wire creator David Simon reveals that he almost had to choose a completely different theme song because Tom Waits could not figure out how to use a VCR.

Brad Pitt has teamed up with music producer Damien Quintard to relaunch the historic Miraval Studios in France, where Pink Floyd, Sting, The Cure and AC/DC recorded their albums.

-Did every TV writer decide this was the season that their characters were going to have heart attacks after a Peloton ride?

Prince Andrew having 72 teddy bears is the least disturbing rumor about him to surface lately.

-This is a fun piece about which celebrities are actually reading the books they claim to be reading.

Will Arnett, Ken Jeong, Annie Murphy, Conan O’Brien, Sharon Stone, Marshawn Lynch and more improv their way through crime scenes in the official trailer for Netflix’s Murderville. Improv can be hard to watch but this trailer intrigues me.

 

Joss Whedon Just Can’t Help Himself

joss whedon new york mag

-I’m bummed that New York magazine gave a full profile feature to Joss Whedon. Did he really need this big of a platform? Again? Luckily, it doesn’t come off as a redemption piece, but only because the man can’t stop playing the victim. Every answer he gives is pretty much a disaster. He talks about having affairs with actresses on the Buffy set: (“‘I feel fucking terrible about them,’ he said. When I pressed him on why, he noted ‘it messes up the power dynamic,’ but he didn’t expand on that thought. Instead, he quickly added that he had felt he ‘had’ to sleep with them, that he was ‘powerless’ to resist. I laughed. ‘I’m not actually joking,’ he said. He had been surrounded by beautiful young women — the sort of women who had ignored him when he was younger — and he feared if he didn’t have sex with them, he would ‘always regret it'”), he blames the Justice League reshoot issues on the cast’s behaviour, saying Gal Gadot simply didn’t understand his jokes (“English is not her first language, and I tend to be annoyingly flowery in my speech”) and casts doubts on Ray Fisher‘s motives for speaking out (“We’re talking about a malevolent force. We’re talking about a bad actor in both senses”). The piece actually ends with him saying, “I think I’m one of the nicer showrunners that’s ever been.” Oh, and he alludes to possibly being responsible for another kid’s death when he was five. An absolute and total catastrophe of an interview.

Ray Fisher has responded to Whedon‘s new comments against him through Twitter: “Rather than address all of the lies and buffoonery today — I will be celebrating the legacy of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Tomorrow the work continues.”

Prince Harry says he won’t visit the UK until he can pay for police protection. He’s tried hiring private security but UK intelligence won’t share with them the credible threats. And to make matters worse, the timing of the story is gross.

Tiffany Haddish was arrested in Georgia on suspicion of DUI.

Britney Spears seems to be open to the idea of making amends with her younger sister, Jamie Lynn. “I admire you for being strong … just know I love you and I think you know that already more than anything!!!”

Kanye West doesn’t want his and Kim Kardashian’s four children to have TikTok accounts. Which…sounds reasonable.

-Meanwhile, Kanye West went on Instagram Live to complain that he wasn’t invited to daughter Chicago’s birthday party — but Kim Kardashian was reportedly shocked he said that. He was later pictured at the party.

-Euphoria’s Hunter Schafer and Dominic Fike (who plays new character Elliot) might be dating.

-Oh no. Bryce Dallas Howard is the latest celeb to start promoting NFTs.

Kendall Jenner insists she asked her friend’s permission before she showed up to her wedding in that barely there dress.

Jeff Goldblum and Kyle MacLachlan walked in Prada’s menswear show at Milan Fashion Week.

-Is Chloe Sevigny shooting her shot with Jason Momoa via Instagram?

-God, what a stellar week of TV. First up was the Station Eleven finale, which left me crying happy tears. For a pandemic show based on a somewhat bleak book, those last 10 minutes were the most uplifting thing I’ve seen in ages.

-The other big finale everyone’s talking about is Yellowjackets. I love that the showrunners aren’t afraid to shoot down fan theories. Meanwhile, there’s been some great writing about this show, including this piece on how it embraces its gen x roots, this revealing interview with the showrunners, as well as the various excellent weekly recaps.

-Speaking of Yellowjackets, this is a great interview with Christina Ricci, who is stealing the spotlight every week amid a whole show full of scene stealers. She talks about moving to New York when she was a teen and choosing her apartment because it was in her favourite book (“I lived in the Police Building in Little Italy. We moved into that building because I was obsessed with The Alienist”) and how people treat her worse on the Yellowjackets set as soon as she’s dressed as Misty (“I was just, like ‘Oh, this is so interesting, that just because I’m wearing this wig and glasses they’ve forgotten I’m No. 3 on the call sheet'”).

-In other Yellowjackets cast interviews, Melanie Lynskey says her three leading co-stars supported her when she was body-shamed on set by a producer.

-I liked this piece about how we’re finally moving away from mystery-box TV.

-Scream had a really strong opening weekend at the box office.

-People can’t get enough of Peacemaker’s opening credits dance sequence. John Cena and Jennifer Holland talked about nailing the “stoic” moves.

-Game of Thrones’ Nikolaj Coster-Waldau fights the elements in the Against the Ice trailer.