Browsing Tag

Roseanne

James Gunn Fired From Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 After Offensive Comments Resurface

-Ooh boy, this is a biggie. Disney fired Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn after a series of offensive tweets from years ago resurfaced. In a statement, Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn said, “The offensive attitudes and statements discovered on James’ Twitter feed are indefensible and inconsistent with our studio’s values.” In a series of tweets, Gunn apologized for the posts that made light of pedophilia and rape, saying “I viewed myself as a provocateur.” He’s been a questionable figure for a while (he had to apologize a few years ago for a homophobic blog post, and there was some drama about sharing writing credits), but the wrinkle in this story is that the tweets were resurfaced by alt-right personalities who are likely less concerned about the offensive content and more about taking down a celeb who frequently rails against the president. (It might also be payback for Roseanne, who was also a Disney star.) However it happened, he should have been fired, but man this is messy. Also, it remains *incomprehensible* to me that celebrities (and/or their publicists) don’t immediately scrub their entire digital presence of anything even remotely questionable the second they get a modicum of fame. It should be part of the Hollywood starter kit!

-Speaking of Roseanne, she “explained” the racist tweet that got her fired from her sitcom in a bizarre new YouTube video. She said she was fired because she voted for Trump (“That is not allowed in Hollywood”) and then screamed at the top of her lungs “I thought the b—- was white! Goddamn it! I thought the b—- was white! F—!” when talking about Valerie Jarrett. According to TMZ, the man asking Roseanne the questions is her son.

Shonda Rhimes says she’s creating 8(!) shows for Netflix, including an adaptation of The Cut’s viral scamming story about Anna Delvey.

Wiz Khalifa said straight men shouldn’t bite into bananas. [laughs for infinity]

Ariana Grande is defending naming a song on her new album after Pete Davidson: “It’s a special song about the most special human being I’ve ever met.”

-I have to say I’m pretty impressed that they are casting an age-appropriate love interest for Tom Cruise in Top Gun 2. Jennifer Connelly in early talks.

Aaron Paul dressed his baby in Breaking Bad gear for Comic-Con, and it was hella cute.

-Watch Andrew Lincoln get a little tearful at Comic-Con while confirming that he’s leaving Walking Dead.

-Meanwhile, I gave up on The Walking Dead years ago but it’s pretty neat that they landed Samantha Morton as their new big bad.

Joe Manganiello recalled the time he was told to beat up James Franco in an audition. This man is living my dream!

-Paramount TV president Amy Powell was fired over inappropriate comments she made in a meeting. They didn’t say what the comments were, but they must have been rul rul bad for her to be fired instead of reprimanded.

-Hush Hush is being adapted into a movie? Seriously?! I read that book ten years ago (TEN!) and was horrified by how the “romance” basically consists of a woman being being worn down by her stalker. It was bad enough back then, so how the hell does this get picked up in the #MeToo era?

-DVR alert: Canada is finally getting Killing Eve, which starts airing on Bravo this Sunday.

-I dug this piece on how TV’s need to consume more of our time has led to a frustrating deterioration in quality, even for good shows.

-Conan got Jodie Foster, Hilary Swank, Nick Offerman and more to “audition” for Batgirl.

-I was certain that this story about Taylor Swift, Jennifer Hudson, James Corden and Ian McKellen signing on to do a movie adaptation of Cats was a joke — but I don’t think it is?

-This thread, which summarizes every Shakespeare play with a Parks and Rec quote, is brilliant.

Elle Fanning goes on the run in the trailer for Mélanie Laurent’s Galveston.

Paul McCartney Plays Fan JukeBox on Carpool Karaoke

Paul McCartney‘s episode of Carpool Karaoke is predictably great, mostly because it’s got as much fan interaction as singing.

-It looks like Emma Watson and Chord Overstreet have reunited. A month after their reported split, they were photographed kissing.

-Welp. This is not Madonna‘s best move ever.

Kim Kardashian responded to her braided hair backlash by saying “I’m not tone deaf.” Her defense of Trump earlier this week would seem to suggest otherwise.

-Well, now I finally understand why Ariana Grande is dating Pete Davidson.

-NBC finally cancelled Timeless (though it may get a 2-hour wrap up). The odds were never great, but I don’t know why NBC strung along its fans so long.

-In other TV news, the Roseanne-less Roseanne spinoff is officially a go at ABC. The Conners, starring Laurie Metcalf, John Goodman and Sara Gilbert, will follow the family “after a sudden turn of events” forces them to face daily life “in a way they never have before.”

-Yikes. ABC yanked Monday’s episode of The Proposal after a contestant was accused of setting up a sexual assault.

Terry Crews tweeting about Toronto’s big yogurt spill made me laugh.

-This is a really fascinating take on how diversity in film criticism matters, and why the actors out there talking about it aren’t helping matters much.

Christine Baranski is not sure why Michael Sheen named his penis after her, but she’s cool with it.

Liam Neeson is a very considerate theatre attendee.

Busy Philipps talks about the harassment she’s faced and how she dealt with it: “If you wanted to be a woman and you wanted to work you had a choice to be easygoing about it or not. I wanted to work, that was always my goal. If that meant laughing off a joke at my expense, so be it.”

Gwyneth Paltrow is getting married in the Hamptons because of course she is.

Kit Harrington and Rose Leslie are getting married this weekend and their GoT costars are arriving.

-“I try really, really hard [to be a good wife]. I try hardest to be the best mother,” says Victoria Beckham.

Jonathan Friedland is out as Netflix PR’s chief after using the n-word in a meeting. You’d think the head of PR would get why that’s not a thing you can do.

-Wait, is Drake dropping TWO new albums next week?

-Luke Cage season two drops today, and the critical consensus seems to be that it’s 13 episodes that should have been 4. Netflix bloat is becoming a serious issue, especially since so many TV creators are fleeing broadcast for them. They really care less about quality than keeping eyeballs on their site — and that sucks.

-Apparently Sicario 2 is a really tough hang after the border crisis.

-According to Netflix, Mudbound is a huge hit. Yay!!

Ben Foster tries to adjust to civilization after living off the grid in the Leave No Trace trailer.

Let’s Talk About Drake’s Rumoured Secret Son

drake sophie baby
Sophie B/Instagram

-I usually stay out of hip hop beefs cause I don’t even go here, but this is too insane to overlook. First there was all the drama last weekend (Pusha T‘s new song claimed Drake uses a ghostwriter, Drake slammed Pusha T for his new album art which features a photo that Kanye West bought for $85k of Whitney Houston‘s drug-filled bathroom, then came news that Kanye has abandoned the Chicago charity created in his mother’s name, and Kim Kardashian, Nicki Minaj and Chrissy Teigen all waded into the fray). Then Drake released a rather mild diss track in which he basically said that Pusha isn’t really about that hard-living, drug-dealing life. In response, Pusha released his OWN diss track last night — and he went all in. He raps about how Drake’s best friend is dying from multiple sclerosis, reminds Drake that his dad left him when he was five, and then puts it on blast that Drake himself is a deadbeat dad, mentioning a secret son named Adonis that Drake is rumoured to have had with a porn star (reportedly Sophie Brussaux). In the words of Ron Burgundy: that escalated quickly! Here’s everything we know about Drake‘s rumoured secret baby.

-There’s been some good takes on Roseanne’s cancellation. I like this one, which reiterates that ABC made a business decision not a moral one, and Roxanne Gay’s take in the NYT: “I am more interested in the statement ABC could have made by never making the reboot in the first place.”

-Last night on Twitter, Roseanne blamed Ambien for her racist tweet (and the pharmaceutical company had a great comeback). She also released an apology, which she then undercut by accusing costars Michael Fishman and Sara Gilbert of  throwing her under the bus. And today she says she feels like “fighting back.” So clearly, she’s really learned about the consequences of her actions.

-Roseanne stars Sara Gilbert, Laurie Metcalf and John Goodman  expect to be paid for the upcoming scrapped season even though they didn’t start shooting it yet, while what, if anything, the writers will receive remains less clear.

-I don’t necessarily agree with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s THR column questioning ABC’s decision, but I’m here for the paragraph calling Jason Bateman out: “A few days [after apologizing for “mansplaining”] Bateman appeared on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert to tell a funny story about a minor traffic crash he was in with Will Arnett. During the entirety of telling the story, he continued to refer to Arnett as a woman because Arnett acted frightened and weak after the accident. Bateman was clearly joking and meant no harm, but there is harm when your idea of insulting someone is to say they are weak like women.”

-Seeing as I now have negative interest in the new Arrested Development episodes, I’m glad that the new season of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is getting such glowing reviews.

Eminem tweeted about a weird, accidental moment he once shared with Val Kilmer while in a backstage trailer at an award show. “I know Val Kilmer saw me naked. I just had to get that off my chest.” Kilmer swears he saw nothing.

-Simon Cowell has no good words for American Idol. “I’m genuinely not interested. I think when we were on it years ago, it was a fun show. It was different, it was kind of naïve, lots of surprises. I kind of think we’ve been there, I’ve been there, time for something new.” I mean, he then went on to praise Britain’s Got Talent and America’s Got Talent, so…

Mariah Carey reportedly sold James Packer’s engagement ring for over $2 million. Bless her.

Jacob Tremblay finally found Ryan Reynolds in Japan.

Mario Batali is currently under investigation by the NYPD following a new wave of sexual misconduct allegations. Seven women allege the former TV chef groped them in a new report.

Harvey Weinstein has been indicted by a grand jury on charges of rape and criminal sexual act.

-I really liked this interview with Steven Yeun. I hope he has an enormous post-Walking Dead career.

Kim Kardashian West met with officials, including senior adviser Jared Kushner, at the White House today to discuss prison reform. We live in the upside down.

-I still watch many of the CW superhero shows (begrudgingly, sometimes) but this photo of Arrow’s new writing room has been genuinely intrigued. It’s mostly women! And there’s actually some POC! What’s happening?!? (Also, all of the replies from whiny comic fanboys worried that they’re turning the show into a soap opera feed my soul.)

Ariana Grande and Pete Davidson just made it Instagram official, posting a pic in matching Harry Potter outfits.

-You can watch the first 15 minutes of Dietland, which stars Julianna Margulies and Joy Nash, debuting on June 4 on AMC. I’m very in on this.

-The Americans comes to a close tonight and I’m not ready. This was a show that wowed me from the beginning, lost me when it started to feel like homework, and then lured me back for its final (and best?) season. This exit interview with Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys really hit me right in the heart guts.

Keri Russell played “Did I Murder You?” on Kimmel and it was very funny. I love her reaction when the Scott Speedman photo pops us.

-The This Is Us creator says they have already filmed ‘pieces’ of the show’s final scene, which makes sense to me, especially if he expects certain cast members won’t be around anymore by then.

-I am totally on board for Keanu Reeves‘ sudden interest in rom-coms. He just signed on to star in a Netflix one from Ali Wong and Randall Park, which costars Daniel Dae Kim and Charlyne Yi. I like ALL of those names!

Alan Rickman‘s personal letters reveal that he was frustrated with his role as Snape in the Harry Potter films.

Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively star in the trailer for A Simple Favor.