Browsing Tag

Louis C.K.

It’s Louis C.K.’s Turn

-If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, Louis C.K. has probably been cancelled for you for months. But it all came to a head today. The rumblings started early this afternoon when he abruptly cancelled tomorrow night’s premiere of his new movie and pulled out of his appearance on Colbert’s show. THR reported that it was in preparation for a big NYT story that was about to break — and then it did. The story details accusations from five different women who claim that C.K. masturbated in front of them, or asked if he could. Courteney Cox and David Arquette went on the record saying they heard about this behaviour on the set of a TV pilot they were producing.

-Vulture has a pretty comprehensive timeline about when the rumours first surfaced, kicking off with Gawker’s blind item way back in 2012, heating up with Tig Notaro‘s August interview with the Daily Beast, to last month’s piece by former Gawker writer who recalled getting shut down when trying to ask male comedians about it at JFL. (It bears mentioning that women comedians have been speaking out on this for months but while guys like Aziz Ansari said “I’m not talking about that.”)

-Not surprisingly, the distributor of C.K.’s controversial new film I Love You Daddy is reconsidering the release. It was already off to a shaky start (many critics at TIFF found the subject matter squicky) even before today.

-The Parks and Rec showrunner has apologized for casting him on the show.

-My biggest concern is how this might affect Better Things (which he produces). It’s probably the best examination of what it’s like to be a woman on TV right now. (A recent episode introduced the concept of a “super single” and I actually cheered.) Pamela Adlon is now in a tough spot of either having to comment and possibly coming off like she’s supporting C.K., or not commenting and seeming shady.

-It’s times like this that I wish that ep of Girls with Matthew Rhys was being re-run nightly on HBO. The way it examined how we brush off or make excuses for the transgressions of powerful men we admire has never been more timely.

-Gossip Girl star Ed Westwick has issued a second denial after another actress came forward with a rape accusation.

-Meanwhile, Charlie Sheen ‘absolutely denies‘ a claim that he raped Corey Haim on the set of Lucas.

-Another actor who is under scrutiny these days is Steven Seagal. Adding to the growing list of complaints is Portia De Rossi, who says he unzipped his pants during an audition.

-The Kevin Spacey fallout continues. In a totally shocking move, Ridley Scott will reshoot all of Spacey’s scenes in All The Money In The World — which comes out NEXT MONTH. Christopher Plummer (who Ridley originally wanted in the role), will replace him. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Scott made the decision unilaterally and only notified Sony late Wednesday afternoon. This is NUTS (and I love it).

-Earlier this afternoon, Amber Tamblyn tweeted cryptically to wonder why Matthew Weiner fired his assistant-turned-writer on Mad Men, and then this interview dropped with the writer accusing him of saying she owed it to him to see her naked.

–Terry Crews filed a police report yesterday, a month after alleging he was groped.

-Just when you were thinking all Hollywood men were garbage people, John Boyega dropped this workout video and Chris Hemsworth paid tribute to his hammer. Faith restored!

–Julia Louis Dreyfus‘ Veep costars psyche her up for chemo in this funny video.

-Grey’s Anatomy is airing its 300th(!) episode tonight. That’s Supernatural numbers! Shonda Rhimes admitted that the show is ‘sort of a diary’ in a touching new essay.

-A former Smallville actress is reportedly ‘second in command‘ of a cult under investigation for extorting, beating and branding its members. Not Chloe!!

–Angelina Jolie is such a soccer mom.

-Big Little Lies will probably start shooting season 2 in the spring. Look, I loved that show and it’s definitely ending up high on my year-end “best of” list. But can’t shows have perfect endings and just leave it at that?

-In other Reese Witherspoon TV news, Apple picked up two seasons of her and Jennifer Aniston‘s new show.

–Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds are never more tolerable than when they’re trolling each other on social media.

-Here’s our first look at Jodie Whittaker‘s Doctor Who costume.

–Brie Larson is probably hoping that the trailer for this offensive movie she starred in before she got famous hadn’t suddenly surfaced.

–Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams suffer through an intense Game Night in this new trailer. (Her line reading of “YESSS! Oh no, he died!” killed me.)

CTV Moves Up Hip Doc In Tribute To Gord Downie

-In tribute to Gord Downie, who passed away today, CTV has moved up the premiere of the Tragically Hip doc to this Friday night.

–Ryan Reynolds, Seth Rogen and more reacted to Gord’s death on Twitter.

-Meanwhile, of all the stories and tributes that came out today, this Twitter thread is my absolute favourite.

-I follow a lot of TV critics, and absolute favourite has always been Mo Ryan of Variety (previously of HuffPo). She has just as much respect for “low brow” network fare as “prestige” drama, she is constantly and publicly pushing for more diversity in front of and behind the camera, and she frequently gives voice to fan causes (the most recent being the “kill your gays” trope sparked by The 100). So I was absolutely gutted this morning to read her account of being sexually assaulted by a TV executive three years ago at an industry event.

–Kevin Smith says he’s going to donate future revenue from his Weinstein-backed movies to charity.

–Channing Tatum is walking the walk by announcing that he’s halting development on the movie he was supposed to make with Weinstein’s company.

–Laura Dern opened up about being sexually harassed on Ellen’s show today.

–Kate Winslet is in the super awkward position of having to talk about Harvey Weinstein — while also promote her new Woody Allen movie. In a new interview, she says she refused to thank him in her 2009 Oscar speech.  “I remember being told, ‘Make sure you thank Harvey if you win.’ And I remember turning around and saying, ‘No, I won’t. No, I won’t.'”

–Casey Affleck has just been cast in Alfonso Cuarón‘s horror drama TV series, proving nothing ever changes.

–Charlyne Yi took to Twitter yesterday to recall the time David Cross introduced himself with a racist comment. He doesn’t remember it that way.

–Johnny Depp is now suing his lawyer, accusing him and his firm of swindling almost $35M.

-Early reactions to Thor: Ragnarok are in — and most critics seem to dig it.

–Blake Lively is redefining extra with all these press tour looks.

-My entire Twitter TL is obsessed with a Norwegian teen drama called Skam — and Facebook just announced they’re doing a US remake of it.

-Ex-Blink-182 guitarist Tom DeLonge hopes to discover aliens with his crowdfunded spaceship. You do you, bud.

-The ratings news for Riverdale just keep getting better and better. Now that the live-plus-3 ratings have come in, the premiere saw its teen audience go up by 400%. This stuff just doesn’t happen on broadcast TV anymore. The power of Netflix binges!

-The Pussycat Dolls are disputing a claim made by a former member that the group is a front for a “prostitution ring.” Whoa.

-I’m not entirely convinced that Ian Somerhalder is famous enough to be mocked on SNL, but this certainly does seem like him…

-The first trailer for Louis C.K.‘s I Love You, Daddy has arrived  — at the worst possible timing. I wonder what kind of appetite there is for a movie about a Woody Allen-type character, created by a guy who refuses to address his sexual harassment allegations.

Taraji P. Henson Talks Empire & the Art of the Hustle in Marie Claire

taraji-p-henson-marie-claire

-Wow, I adore Taraji P. Henson’s new Marie Claire cover.

-First Armie Hammer dragged James Woods on Twitter, and now Amber Tamblyn is getting in on the action.  She originally tweeted “James Woods tried to pick me and my friend up at a restaurant once. He wanted to take us to Vegas. ‘I’m 16’ I said. ‘Even better’ he said.” After he denied it she tweeted “Calling me liar, James? This is now far from over. That I can promise” and is now RT’ing other people’s gross stories about him.  I love this.

–Prince Harry reportedly enjoyed an early birthday celebration this past weekend with Meghan Markle in London. He turns 33 on Friday.

-Another day, yet another Star Wars shakeup. Days after Colin Trevorrow  parted ways with the franchise, J.J. Abrams  was announced as the new writer/director of Episode IX.  Not the most inspired or diverse choice, but I get why they wanted to go the safe, competent route after all the disarray. The change means the premiere date has been pushed seven months to Dec 2019.

–Russell Brand wants to make amends with ex-wife Katy Perry, who he dumped via text. “I’m willing and open for reconciliation, any kind. Because if we can’t overcome our relatively trivial personal disputes in this world, what hope is there for us?” How big of him.

–Louis C.K.‘s new film I Love You, Daddy and I, Tonya (which reportedly features an incredible Margot Robbie performance) landed the top deals of this year’s TIFF market so far.

-Meanwhile, while promoting the film in Toronto Louis C.K. was asked by the NYT about those rumors of sexual misconduct with female comics, and he shut it down. “I’m not going to answer to that stuff, because they’re rumors…If you actually participate in a rumor, you make it bigger and you make it real.”

–Michelle Williams and Busy Phillips reminiscing about all the actors they kissed on Dawson’s Creek is kind of the best.

–Randy Jackson says that his sister Janet’s divorce arose from an “abusive situation,” and claims she suffered “verbal abuse” and felt like “a prisoner in her own home” during her marriage to businessman Wissam Al Mana.

–Kristen Bell played bingo, had wheelchair races and ate dinner with thousands of nursing home residents who evacuated to her Orlando hotel during Irma.

-Good on Glamour Mag for fighting back against hateful Instagram comments about one of their employees.

-In a rare political post, Selena Gomez asked her millions of followers to defend DACA.

-Meanwhile, Elle Fanning learned the hard way what happens when Selena tags you on Instagram.

-I always have time to watch a new Radiohead video.

-The fact that Syfy added the founder of BGN to their advisory board makes me want to watch Syfy shows.

–Jason Mamoa posted an Instgram video of him on a climbing wall and it’s rul nice.

-This footage of Rami Malek performing as Freddie Mercury is pretty promising.

-My friends and I are really split one The Florida Project (I loved it, they didn’t), but Drake just endorsed the film so I’m really feeling better about my opinion now…

-Here’s the first trailer for James Franco‘s The Disaster Artist. He’s getting raves for his performance.

-A new trailer has officially dropped for Alexander Payne’s Downsizing. The reviews coming out of TIFF for this one are also pretty stellar.