In June 2020, Ray Fisher tweeted about his experience working with Joss Whedon on Justice League, where Fisher played Cyborg. Fisher called Whedon’s conduct “gross, abusive, unprofessional, and completely unacceptable” in a tweet. The dominos haven’t stopped falling since, with actors from Whedon’s TV productions coming forward to speak in detail about his history of sexism, misogyny and fostering horrendously toxic environments.

The entire Justice League production was a stressful mess, and director Zack Snyder had to leave mid-production because of a death in his family. Whedon was brought on, and he quickly oversaw a giant overhaul of the script, which included marginalizing the Cyborg character, taking away his backstory and centering none of the story on that character. Whedon also wanted to make fundamental changes to Wonder Woman, and he reportedly did not get along with any of the Justice League actors besides Fisher, particularly Jason Momoa and Ben Affleck. Fisher was the first one to go public in a major way, and he’s forced Warner Bros to do some kind of investigation, an investigation which seems pretty f–king compromised.

Now Fisher has gone public yet again by sitting down for a lengthy interview with the Hollywood Reporter. Having read the whole thing, I now understand why I found the scandal hard to follow as the months went by – Warner Bros has been openly obfuscating and protecting Whedon and his studio bros, including Geoff Johns and Jon Berg. Much of this THR piece is Fisher detailing the timeline of events, and it’s worth a read – go here. I believe Fisher entirely about how he was treated within the production of Justice League, and how he was treated afterwards, when he asked for the investigation. As THR also notes, it seems like everyone had an issue with Whedon. So why is WB still protecting him?

Fisher was not the only Justice League star who was unhappy. Sources say Joss Whedon clashed with all the stars of the film, including Jeremy Irons. And one Justice League star ended up taking her complaints not only to the head of the film studio but also to the chairman of Warner Bros. A knowledgeable source says Gal Gadot had multiple concerns with the revised version of the film, including “issues about her character being more aggressive than her character in Wonder Woman. She wanted to make the character flow from one movie to the next.”

The biggest clash, sources say, came when Whedon pushed Gadot to record lines she didn’t like, threatened to harm Gadot’s career and disparaged Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins. While Fisher declines to discuss any of what transpired with Gadot, a witness on the production who later spoke to investigators says that after one clash, “Joss was bragging that he’s had it out with Gal. He told her he’s the writer and she’s going to shut up and say the lines and he can make her look incredibly stupid in this movie.”

A knowledgeable source says Gadot and Jenkins went to battle, culminating in a meeting with then-Warners chairman Kevin Tsujihara. Asked for comment, Gadot says in a statement: “I had my issues with [Whedon] and Warner Bros. handled it in a timely manner.”

…By late June 2020, Fisher went public with his dissatisfaction at what he viewed as Warners’ inaction. For their part, Warners sources contend that Fisher was being manipulated by Snyder, who hoped to reclaim control of the DC film universe. Fisher says that “the assertion that a Black man would not have his own agency is just as racist as the conversations [Warners leadership] was having about the Justice League reshoots. I’ve been underestimated at every turn during this process and that is what has led us to this point. Had they taken me as seriously as they should have from the beginning, they would not have made as many foolish mistakes as they did in the process.” Snyder denies any role in influencing Fisher.

…As Fisher continued to air grievances on social media and in some interviews, he began to suspect that when he tweeted, the studio would put out an announcement to distract from his message. On July 1 — the day that Fisher tweeted about Whedon’s behavior — Deadline published an exclusive saying Warners was making a live-action Frosty the Snowman movie with Aquaman star Jason Momoa “voicing the iconic snowman.” A few weeks later, Momoa pushed back in an Instagram post. “I just think it’s f–ked up that people released a fake Frosty announcement without my permission to try to distract from Ray Fisher speaking up about the sh-tty way we were treated on Justice League reshoots,” he wrote. “Serious stuff went down. It needs to be investigated and people need to be held accountable.” (Warners says the “Untitled Snowman Comedy” remains in development.)

…”I don’t believe some of these people are fit for positions of leadership,” says Fisher, who explains he’s not looking for anyone to be fired. “I don’t want them excommunicated from Hollywood, but I don’t think they should be in charge of the hiring and firing of other people.” Fisher knows he’s not going to win that battle, but he feels a point has been made. “If I can’t get accountability,” he says, “at least I can make people aware of who they’re dealing with.”

[From THR]

This is beyond disgusting: “Whedon pushed Gadot to record lines she didn’t like, threatened to harm Gadot’s career and disparaged Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins… ‘Joss was bragging that he’s had it out with Gal. He told her he’s the writer and she’s going to shut up and say the lines and he can make her look incredibly stupid in this movie.’” This dude was considered a feminist icon for years. He was considered a writer and director FOR women. And there he was, with a budget of hundreds of millions of dollars, picking on the one female superhero and making sure the actress knew that he could destroy her. I would love a full-length movie about Gal Gadot going to her agent, going to Patty Jenkins and going to the studio chief in short order. It sounds like all of the actors have Ray’s back, so then why is WB still being such f–king d–kheads?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

I didn’t realize this, but Piers Morgan’s appearance on Fox News on Monday evening was the start of some kind of Zoom tour of American media outlets. I guess it’s just a matter of which American outlets will have him, but I’d just like to say on the record that I’m very disappointed in Billy Bush. Billy Bush was allowed to “come back” after his disgusting enabling of Donald Trump in the “grab ‘em by the p-ssy” video. Billy had to go away for a few years, but now he’s hosting Extra and he decided to speak to Piers. I thought Billy Bush promised to do better and be a better man? This is not the way. Anyway, this interview is notable because Piers Morgan now claims that “several members of the Royal Family” have “thanked” him for attacking the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

Piers Morgan, DailyMail.com’s Editor-at-Large, has revealed he’s had messages on behalf of members of the Royal Family expressing ‘gratitude someone was standing up for them’ in the wake of Harry and Meghan’s Oprah Winfrey interview. Morgan made the admission in an interview with Extra’s Billy Bush, which is set to air Tuesday night, when he was asked if anyone from the Royal Family had reached out following the couple’s interview last month.

‘I’ve had some messages communicated to me on behalf on several members of the Royal Family,’ Morgan said. He would not reveal if it was senior members of the Royal Family who had communicated the messages.

‘I’m not going to go into who it was… but gratitude that somebody was standing up,’ he said.

Morgan left his British breakfast TV show, Good Morning Britain, back on March 9 over his on-air comments about Meghan Markle in the wake of the Oprah interview. He had said that he didn’t believe a word of Markle’s interview and slammed her for insinuating that the Royal Family was racist.

‘There’s been an attempt to cancel me. There’ve been many attempts like this before, and somehow I remain resolutely uncanceled,’ Morgan said. ‘In the end, I was required to apologize for disbelieving Meghan Markle, who I don’t believe – and I believe, which is ironic, that you should not believe somebody if you don’t want to,’ Morgan said of his departure from his show.

Asked by Bush what he was say to Markle now given the chance, Morgan said he would ask her to sit down for an interview so he could put some ‘difficult questions’ to her. ‘I would say to Meghan Markle, ‘Look… sit down with me with your husband for an equally long interview… and let me ask you more difficult questions about all your claims,’ Morgan said. ‘But let me ask you a wider question, which is this: If you hate the royal family that much, why do you keep your royal titles? Why would you do that if it’s just not to make millions and millions of dollars?’

[From The Daily Mail]

“I’m not going to go into who it was…” This is the same garden slug who “demanded” that Meghan and Harry reveal which senior royal asked about the baby’s skin color. Oh, how the turn tables. Now, there are many people – even royal commentators – who don’t even believe Piers, who think he’s just blowing smoke up his own ass. It could be the case. But I feel pretty certain that there are probably any number of high-ranking palace employees and even several royals who do think Piers is doing the right thing by obsessively stalking and harassing Meghan for years. This is the same man who paid Thomas Markle to read scripts – which Piers likely wrote – smearing Meghan on national airwaves.

Buckingham Palace refuses to comment one way or the other about royals passing along supportive messages to Piers Bloody Morgan. Huh. Weird!

Update: Buckingham Palace are not going to be commenting on this.

— Omid Scobie (@scobie) April 7, 2021

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

Rep. Matt Gaetz never had much power in Congress. For a brief moment, Republicans had the majority in the House, and Gaetz was just another loyal MAGA vote for the Trump agenda. When Democrats got the majority back in the House, Gaetz fashioned himself as a MAGA extremist, one of dozens of loud, hysterical lunatics screaming constantly on Trump’s favorite radio shows and Fox News. While Trump appreciates “loyalty,” even he couldn’t remember Matt Gaetz. Gaetz was just another faceless, soulless MAGA guy. So of course Trump never considered pardoning Gaetz, even though Gaetz did request a blanket pardon from the Trump White House. As it turns out, Gaetz had some idea that he was under investigation for human trafficking, solicitation and statutory rape.

Representative Matt Gaetz, Republican of Florida, was one of President Donald J. Trump’s most vocal allies during his term, publicly pledging loyalty and even signing a letter nominating the president for the Nobel Peace Prize. In the final weeks of Mr. Trump’s term, Mr. Gaetz sought something in return. He privately asked the White House for blanket pre-emptive pardons for himself and unidentified congressional allies for any crimes they may have committed, according to two people told of the discussions.

Around that time, Mr. Gaetz was also publicly calling for broad pardons from Mr. Trump to thwart what he termed the “bloodlust” of their political opponents. But Justice Department investigators had begun questioning Mr. Gaetz’s associates about his conduct, including whether he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old that violated sex trafficking laws, in an inquiry that grew out of the case of an indicted associate in Florida.

It was unclear whether Mr. Gaetz or the White House knew at the time about the inquiry, or who else he sought pardons for. Mr. Gaetz did not tell White House aides that he was under investigation for potential sex trafficking violations when he made the request. But top White House lawyers and officials viewed the request for a pre-emptive pardon as a nonstarter that would set a bad precedent, the people said.

Aides told Mr. Trump of the request, though it is unclear whether Mr. Gaetz discussed the matter directly with the president. Mr. Trump ultimately pardoned dozens of allies and others in the final months of his presidency, highlighting his willingness to wield his power to help close supporters and lash out against the criminal justice system. In recent days, some Trump associates have speculated that Mr. Gaetz’s request for a group pardon was an attempt to camouflage his own potential criminal exposure.

Gaetz’s spokesman said in a statement: “Entry-level political operatives have conflated a pardon call from Representative Gaetz — where he called for President Trump to pardon ‘everyone from himself, to his administration, to Joe Exotic’ — with these false and increasingly bizarre, partisan allegations against him. Those comments have been on the record for some time, and President Trump even retweeted the congressman, who tweeted them out himself.”

[From The NY Times]

Womp womp. Gaetz tried so hard to please his Trump-daddy and daddy wouldn’t even help him with a lil’ pardon. I keep thinking about how reckless and completely CRIMINAL Gaetz must have been for the Trump-Barr DOJ to open an investigation. How far-reaching was Gaetz’s prostitution and human-trafficking ring? Apparently, Gaetz was barely even covering his tracks. All of this stuff was being conducted in hotels, and there are ATM, Apple Pay, Venmo records and all that.

Also:

“Where is Rick? He’s here,” Trump says, looking for Gaetz, before getting his name right and calling him “Matt,” saying, he’s been “one of our stars.”

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) October 16, 2020

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

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When Pete Davidson appeared on Weekend Update on Saturday Night Live in February, he told Colin Jost he needed to make some changes in his living situation. The joke was:

In some ways, I like the pandemic Valentine’s because it’s the first time being alone wasn’t my fault. I spent the night eating chocolates and watching a movie with my mom, which is why I’m officially moving out of the house. One of us has to go.

At the time, we thought it was just Pete playing Pete for SNL, but it turns out that he was serious. Pete has moved out of the home he purchased with his mom, Amy, in 2019, and into his own place.

Pete Davidson has officially left the nest.

The Saturday Night Live star, 27, has moved into a place of his own two years after buying a home with his mom, Amy.

“I just moved out of my mom’s house,” Davidson said in a recorded video call shared on TikTok over the weekend.

The comedian added, “I’m fully out. I got a pad.”

The brief clip showed his living area had tall windows, a large television and a few pictures. Reps for Davidson and SNL did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on his move.

[From People]

Pete talked about moving in with his mom on Jimmy Fallon back in April of 2019. At that point, Pete and Ariana Grande had broken off their engagement and he and Kate Beckinsale had probably moved on from whatever their romantic entanglement was. So the world was fascinated in equal parts with his dating life and why he moved in with his mother, especially when he was dating women like Ariana and Kate. It always sort of made sense to me. Pete seemed to be spinning a little bit after he split with Ariana. That relationship was such a whirlwind and happened *right* after his long-term relationship with Cazzie David ended, so I think he needed a little grounding at the time. He’s been pretty upfront about his BPD and I think moving in with his mom was a positive step for his mental health. Plus, when I saw his basement space in the short Netflix special he filmed, it had plenty of independence, the same as if he’d been renting an apartment. And Amy made him dinner when he wanted so – bonus!

But now he’s got his own place. Congratulations. Maybe they both were ready. As the excerpt said, we don’t have any more info, this new place could be two doors down for all we know. The call mentioned in the article was a FaceTime call and Pete just happened to be entering his place as the call was happening. It doesn’t outright say he stayed on Staten Island but come on – he crowned himself The King of Staten Island, he couldn’t move to Ithaca and expect his subjects to remain loyal. I wonder if the new castle has anything to do with impressing his new Duchess, Phoebe Dyneor.

Photo credit: Getty Images, Backgrid and Avalon

Weird things keep happening with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the media around them. It’s clear that William and Kate’s PR has significantly diverged in recent years, especially in the post-Sussexit year. Kate’s PR is that she’s the royal revolutionary Top CEO who holds everything together for poor, weak, rage-filled, emotional William. William’s PR is that he’s the other brother, a future king who doesn’t need his charismatic younger brother and that Kate is okay because she raises the children. The other layer to this is that William and Kate are actively pushing their diverging PR onto the establishment British media – notably, the Times of London – and that the PR is dead on arrival. Hardly any other outlet really covered the recent Times articles, which is an incredibly bad sign for Other Brother and Keen Guevara. Clearly, no one is buying it. So instead, people like Andrew Morton and Katie Nicholl continue to yammer on about how Kate is wonderful because she’s voiceless, lazy and has a personality disorder which causes her to gleefully exploit murder victims and appropriate the experiences of other women.

The Duchess of Cambridge is the ‘silent power behind Prince William and keeps everything together’, while using powerful gestures to communicate like Princess Diana did, royal experts have claimed. Kate, 39, who is currently based in Kensington Palace, London, has been a pillar of strength for her husband during an ‘exceptionally hard year for him’, Katie Nicholl told OK!.

The Duke of Cambridge has ‘had to shoulder a lot of burden’, according to the royal author, including Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s explosive tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey in which they laid bare the extent of their rift with the Royal Family.

It comes as Princess Diana’s biographer Andrew Morton told the publication that the duchess’ gestures and body language are mirroring Prince William’s late mother, who tragically passed away in a car crash in Paris in 1997. Mr Morton noted how Kate made a surprise appearance at Sarah Everard’s memorial in South London, last month, laying daffodils from Kensington Palace to pay her respects to the murdered 33-year-old marketing executive. He suggested the quiet approach was exactly the method Princess Diana preferred, with both the royals realising ‘one gesture is worth a thousand words’.

The author added: ‘It shows that Kate is someone who doesn’t have to speak out. She’s doing what Diana used to do, which is let her body language tell the story.’

Meanwhile, Katie Nicholl, who is the author of Kate: The Future Queen, told the publication that the duchess has been quietly supporting Prince William, 38, through this tough year. She explained: ‘Kate is the silent power behind William, the linchpin that keeps everything together.’

[From The Daily Mail]

The Keen Lynchpin, a Top CEO who is the pillar of strength for poor, overburdened, disorganized, emotional, enraged Other Brother. At some point, likely very soon, William is going to take issue with this. Kate is actually throwing him under the bus quite regularly now. I think the start of it was the Tatler-Catherine the Great story last year, where Kate was called “the kingmaker” and they suggested that Kate is the only reason why William is any way ready to be king. That same energy has ramped up this year, especially post-Oprah interview. Kate’s whole deal is that William can’t handle anything without her. A bad look for a Future King.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.

Thandie Newton has been working steadily since the early 1990s. But “steadily” would downplay the roles that she has taken on since the beginning of her career, most notably in my opinion with Gridlock’d along side Tupac. Thandie is starring in HBO’s Westworld which is about to start filming its fourth season. She will also star in Reminiscence, with Hugh Jackman, out this year.

Thandie is has been outspoken about the abuse that she experienced at the hands of director, John Duigan, who directed her first film, Flirting in 1991. Thandie reclaimed her story in the process of opening up about it.

Now Thandie is reclaiming her name. Thandie was born Thandiwe Newton. Thandiwe’s mother was the daughter of a Shona chief from Zimbabwe and her father was a British man from Cornwall. Thandiwe says in a new interview in British Vogue that she silenced the “W” in her name so that she wouldn’t be othered in school. She will now be using her full name as she doesn’t seek to blend in but stand out. Below are a few excerpts from her interview with British Vogue:

On speaking out against abusers
“I have a seventh sense for abuse and abusers, which I believe is one of the reasons why I was rejected a lot in Hollywood. I’ll talk about it until the cows come home, because I know I’ll be helping someone.”

She joined a community of survivors working for change
“When I started joining in I found myself around a lot more people of colour. Isn’t that strange?” Well, because there are so many women of colour who’ve been abused, and who are the spine of their community or the spine of their family. Black women are truly the nexus where all of this overlaps. Think of what else has the potential to heal if we support and care for Black women.”

On protecting her daughter Nico, 16, as she starts her career
“I went to every photoshoot with her. If there was an issue with the photographer, if there was inappropriate language I was on it, didn’t give a f**k what anyone thought. When it was time for her to get an agent, I spent a month auditioning for one, even though I knew half of them.”

On using her real name
“The thing I’m most grateful for in our business right now is being in the company of others who truly see me. And to not be complicit in the objectification of Black people as ‘others’, which is what happens when you’re the only one.”
“That’s my name. It’s always been my name. I’m taking back what’s mine.”

[From Vogue.co.uk]

I’ve been a fan girl of Thandiwe since I first saw her in Mission Impossible II. I just thought she was so beautiful. Since then I have watched her star in several films and shows and was pissed off when she was killed off in Rogue. Thandiwe made the damn show.

It is shocking every time I read that Thandiwe was rejected in Hollywood, but when I look at her film credits, I am not sure why she hasn’t received more awards from such an illustrious career. I do love that she is reclaiming her roots by reclaiming her African name. I can only imagine what it must have felt like to grow up in racist Britain where Thandiwe was basically forced to choose her British side. I also love how Thandiwe says she protects her daughter, Nico, from predators and that SHE auditions her daughter’s talent agent despite knowing them all. That’s some boss level sh*t.

I am loving this more outspoken, not taking anybody’s sh*t Thandiwe. There is something beautiful about a woman who owns her power and is unapologetic about it. Thandiwe is definitely setting the tone for how she wishes to be treated going forward and I am here for it. I am intrigued by her new sci-fi movie, Reminiscence. I just watched the mini trailer and it seems sinister and I love those types of movies (I’ve included the trailer below). I also need to catch up on Westworld because I actually like that show and I loved Thandiwe’s role as the robot prostitute gone rogue. It would seem that in the case of Thandiwe, art is definitely imitating life and I am here for it.

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Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary last November. Catherine and Michael have a 25-year age gap between them. Those age gaps always cause a stir at the start of a relationship but once they pass the 15-20 year mark, we tend to overlook them. Catherine recently participated in the Wall Street Journal’s My Monday Morning series. Since her marriage has survived 20 years in Hollywood, they asked her the secret to their success. Catherine said it’s having a sense of humor and the understanding that a relationship is going to have ups and downs. The WSJ article is behind a paywall, so I am using an excerpt from Just Jared.

Catherine Zeta-Jones is opening up about her marriage.
The 51-year-old actress revealed the secret to her successful marriage to Michael Douglas in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

“First of all, we have a lot of fun together,” Catherine said. “My husband is 25 years older than me; that’s not a secret. With any relationship, it wouldn’t be normal if there weren’t any ups and downs. The constant is love and respect. We’ve never, ever lost our sense of humor, and we enjoy each other’s company.”

She added, “My husband and I spend a lot of time together because, unlike so many couples, we’ve never had a 9-to-5 job where it’s consistent. We’re either on or we’re off. I’m really working 16 hours a day, or I’m not. He’s doing the same, or not. So we’ve had in our relationship huge amounts of time where we’ve been just us. We lived on the island of Bermuda for 12 years bringing up our kids. We respect each other’s space, and our humor is just long-lasting.”

[From Just Jared]

I laughed a little at Catherine’s casual reference to “ups and downs” because her marriage has had some pretty major ups and downs. Their relationship emerged from the explosive end to Michael’s marriage to Diandra Lurker. However, I’ll bet if most married folks looked back on their relationships, we’d find that we went through a lot more crap together than we thought.

I whole-heartedly agree on the humor part. Obviously, it doesn’t work for everyone, but it did in my family and it sounds likes it it’s working for Catherine and Michael as well. As long as humor is used as a healer and not to mask larger issues. I think the same is true about Catherine’s comments regarding the amount of time she and Michael spent together – it’s couple specific. I know a (childless) couple who travel for work separately. They spend maybe half their year together and couldn’t be happier in their situation. I know another couple that hates it if they are kept apart for more than an average 9-5 work-week. In the end, Catherine and Michael have had some wonderful ups and some devastating and scary downs. They fought through them and came out the other side. They’ll celebrate their 21st anniversary this year, defying most naysayers’ odds about them as a couple. They’ve stood by each other during critical health issues and appear happy, as do their kids. Good for them.

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I finally got around to watching Mank after putting it off for months. It was okay. I understood, before I watched it, what the story would be about: the Hollywood Golden Age and a notorious and well-connected alcoholic, Herman Mankiewicz. I hoped to see more of Orson Welles, but Orson-as-a-character was barely in it. Instead, it’s a two hour and 11 minute movie which honestly feels like a four-hour bender. Mank drinks and drinks and drinks. Sometimes he’s a mensch and sometimes he’s awful. I guess we were supposed to have sympathy for him or think that he was some kind of unsung hero? He wasn’t. He screwed over friends and foes and he nurtured stupid grievances. Anyway, Amanda Seyfried is good in it and I honestly enjoyed Charles Dance as William Randolph Hearst. But it looks like all of the money and energy is going into Gary Oldman’s best actor campaign for playing Mank. He’s actively campaigning too. Check out his interview with the LA Times:

His thought when he saw the assembled Mank cast: “God … and I’m going to be the one to come and f— it up. I tell you, the rubbish that goes through your head. I know what kicked in my insecurity initially — it would have kicked in eventually anyway — but I’m reading this script, and Mank has all these one-liners he throws out, and you have to infuse them with enough charm to make them palatable. How do you make this guy likable and not this grump, snarky drunk? That was the challenge.”

He’s been sober for nearly 24 years: “When I was drinking, I was working and I was remembering lines, so you feel you’re getting away with it, though, deep down, beneath the denial, you know. Herman, with that self-effacing humor, he was at lunch, drinking with a friend, who said, ‘Why don’t you go home sober for once?’ And he answered, ‘What? And have [wife] Sara throw me out as an impostor?’ I did the same thing. I would sit down and tell the waiter, ‘I’ll have a large vodka tonic. And can you bring it now because I’m an alcoholic. I need it quicker.’”

Romanticizing alcoholism: “People romanticize it, and even I romanticized it. All my heroes were drinkers or opium addicts, and you get all misty-eyed about these poets and playwrights and actors who were big drinkers. That great line, Dorothy Parker: ‘I’d rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy.’ I think it may have been Brendan Behan who said, ‘I’m an alcoholic with a writing problem.’ Now that’s witty. Great lines. But you can’t separate the two. Scott Fitzgerald said, ‘You take the first drink, and the drink takes you.’ I used to sweat vodka. It becomes such a part of you. My tongue would be black in the morning. I blamed it on the shampoo. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy, to be in the grip of it. It’s hell. And that self-effacing humor? That’s just there to mask the inadequacy.”

Remembering his friend David Bowie: “Having been in recovery, one of the most profound lines is ‘planet Earth is blue, and there’s nothing I can do.’ That is it right there for me. There’s nothing I can do. That’s the thing where you sometimes drink because you need something habitually. You’ve got to clear the fog. And finally you go, ‘There’s nothing I can do about that. No matter what I feel, a drink’s not going to do it.’ Such a wonderful, simple line. David was a poet. Not a day goes by when I don’t miss him.”

[From The LA Times]

As far as Oscar campaign interviews go, this is a pretty good one. He strikes the right tone, he’s self-effacing and confessional about the darkness of his own addiction, and acknowledging that Mank is a guy with demons and deep inadequacy. While the film shows Mank in all his flaws… there is still such romanticism to the film and to the character. The screenplay constantly reminds us that the poor guy isn’t living up to his potential, that he supports good causes, that he’s loyal to a couple of his friends, that he has a heart of gold and a demon on his back. But at some point, it’s just exhausting to give that much depth and nuance to a guy who f–ked over people close to him and who seemed like a f–king monster while he was drinking, and he was always drinking. It came across as navel-gazing. But sure, I bet Oldman is a top Oscar contender, even though he just won an Oscar a few years ago.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

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Teyana Taylor has kept herself quite busy these last couple of years. Besides starring in Coming to America 2, Teyana started the nail salon, Junie Bee, in Harlem two years ago and became the new creative director for U.K.-based retailer, PrettyLittleThing, in December. Recently, Teyana collaborated with Olay’s body care collection (because she loves self care) and will be portraying Dionne Warwick in an unnamed series. Teyana turned thirty in December and she has a few things to say about crossing that milestone birthday. Below are a few excerpts from her interview with People:

PEOPLE: Tell us a little about what self-care looks like to you?

Teyana Taylor: “Especially being a mom, it’s important to me to make sure I find time to give myself that little self-care. Even if it’s just massaging my face or body. I love putting my lotions on while my skin is still wet. Olay has a Nighttime Rinse-off Body Conditioner that I have been using. I know it sounds weird, but when you put conditioner in your hair and rinse it out, your hair is super-soft, right? That’s how I feel about this lotion.”

PEOPLE: After much chatter on social media, legendary Dionne Warwick confirmed that a series based on her life is in the works! What does being involved in this project mean to you?

Teyana Taylor: “It was a fight to be able to have this opportunity and to play a role of someone that I look up to and you love, such an iconic person. To me, it’s a feeling I almost can’t explain. I’ve done a lot of movies and TV shows, but I still feel like I never really got the chance for people to really see me act. And I never got a chance to be in a serious film, where I literally have to bring somebody else’s story to life. So, that in itself is a whole ‘nother level of pressure. But one thing about me is, any role that I’m playing, I go full in. I don’t half a– anything.”

PEOPLE: What else is on your thirties bucket list?

Teyana Taylor: “I think to like actually really live, you know what I’m saying? Have you ever noticed how busy our lives are from kids? And in your twenties you’re still finding yourself. Your thirties is like when you really start to come into your own and know yourself. And I think that’s where things start to calm down a little bit. That kind of was my goal. I’ve always wanted to be a mom and a wife. I always wanted to feel stable, you know? But still grow.

So when I turned 30, this is a new time, a new moment to really just like live, love and be yourself unapologetically. Not caring about people’s opinions, not care about other people’s judgment, really just focusing on you and your loved ones.”

[From People]

I didn’t know who Teyana Taylor was until she did that Fade video with Kanye West in 2016 eight months after having her daughter. And since then, I have been watching her make a sh*t ton of boss moves that have left me in awe. Teyana took one moment and capitalized the hell out of it. I know she had been working on her music and dance career before Fade, but it was the Fade video that launched her career. Teyana is also stunning so I am sure there will be more opportunities coming her way to be in film and music.

As far as turning thirty, I believe your thirties are when you go through a sort of metamorphosis. If you follow astrology your thirties are kicked off by your first Saturn return which can be hell or bliss depending on how you respond to it. Saturn comes in to shake loose all beliefs and behaviors that don’t serve us. If you hold on tightly that two year period between 28 and 31 can be hell. It seems that Teyana has been wise and brave enough to let go of the things that don’t serve her because her star is taking off. I hope to see her fully live out her thirties as a mother, artist, and entrepreneur.

I also look forward to seeing Teyana in the Dionne Warwick biopic. As a child of the seventies, I grew up listening to Dionne. I have been enjoying following Auntie Dionne on Twitter. Dionne always has me in stitches with her clapbacks and shenanigans. Congratulations to Teyana on all of the opportunities coming her way. I look forward to seeing where Teyana’s star takes her.

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A post shared by Jimmy Neutch- Shumpert (@teyanataylor)

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A post shared by Jimmy Neutch- Shumpert (@teyanataylor)

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