Entertainment

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Director Nia DaCosta, who is set to helm The Marvels, the sequel to 2019’s Captain Marvel, is no stranger to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  That said, she has her own thoughts on who’s to blame for Thanos’ snap in Avengers: Infinity War that wiped out half the universe.

Ever since Infinity War‘s release in 2018, fans have blamed Star-Lord’s inability to control his feelings, Thor’s overconfidence, and the decisions made by characters like Dr. Strange and Wanda Maximoff as the reasons Thanos succeeded. However, speaking to Inverse, DaCosta argues that Captain America’s decision to not sacrifice Vision places him squarely at fault for Thanos’ victory.

“Something I like to say a bit flippantly about Captain America is that the Snap is all his fault because he was trying to do his best, trying to do the right thing. There is a world in which he’s a villain because, at the end of the day, he should have just sacrificed Vision,” she says.

“[Captain America] chose one robot’s life, albeit a sentient one, over literally the entire universe,” she explains. “There’s a sort of anti-hero in that if you want to look at it through that lens. People would say I’m crazy for thinking that way, but there’s something connected to the journey of the anti-hero and the hero.”

Explaining the difference between the two, DaCosta says, “The hero’s pain is something that spurs them to martyr themselves,” she adds, “and an anti-hero’s pain is a thing that kind of starts their journey as opposed to ending it.”

The Marvels is slated to hit theaters on November 11, 2022.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Blake Lively defended her three young daughters’ privacy on Wednesday after an Instagram user shared photos a member of the paparazzi took of them.

The Gossip Girl alum did not mince words when shaming the Hollywood Star Kids Instagram account and insinuated that they had gone back on their word not to post such images.

“This is so disturbing,” Lively commented in the now-deleted post, but has since shared her remarks to her Instagram story. “I’ve personally shared with you that these men stalk and harass my children. And you are still posting. You said you would stop. You personally promised me.”

She continued, “This is not casual appreciation. This is YOU also exploiting very young children. Please. Delete. Please. Some parents are ok with this. We. Are. NOT.”

Lively, who is married to Free Guy‘s Ryan Reynolds, also shouted out those who unfollowed the account by expressing, “YOU make ALL the difference. Thank you for your integrity.”

In July, Lively detailed a “frightening” experience where a man would not stop “stalking” her children, as she put it, and kept taking photographs of them.

The actress said she would “calmly approach the photographer… in order to speak to him” but he would “run away. And jump out again at the next block.”

Lively issued a demand to media outlets, asking them to stop paying photographers to “hide and hunt children.”  She also requested they run background checks on photographers and remarked, “Do you simply not care about the safety of children?”

She also called upon her followers to “stop following and block any publications or handles who publish kid’s pictures.”  The actress suggested more outlets may cease sharing “photos of children obtained by men frightening and stalking them” if enough readers take a stand.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

With the practices of meatless Mondays and sustainable eating growing in popularity, it begs to question if the the way we consume food is evolving out of necessity.  That is the premise of restauranteur David Chang‘s new show, The Next Thing You Eat.

Speaking with ABC Audio, Chang says the new series takes a hard look at the future of food and the challenges ahead.

“Everybody wants to eat more delicious things,” the chef acknowledged, but warned changes are needed to keep up with the rising demand. “By the year 2050, we’re not going to have enough protein to feed the world.”

Chang sees a potential solution in utilizing lab grown protein and tried synthetic salmon to see how it measured up to wild caught fish.

“It was really good,” he marveled and admitted “it melted my brain” to realize what he had on his plate was the product of sustainable science — not fishing.

“We have the ability to recreate [meat] in a way that does almost no damage and there’s no suffering,” the Eat a Peach author continued, but recognized that not everyone will be as willing to make the switch. “If it allows people to eat better fish more affordably, why would you be against that?”

Chang added that the technology can do far more than grow salmon and remarked, “We’re at that point where you can eat potentially anything.”

“The problem is, can it become cost effective?,” Chang added, leaving that questioned to be explored in his new show, The Next Thing You Eat, which is streaming now on Hulu. 

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Ruby Rose has stunned fans with claims that the actress and activist was fired from her former show, Batwoman, for speaking out against the show’s producers.

Rose, initially blamed their exit on an injury she suffered on set that left her with two herniated discs in her back. However, in an Instagram story, Rose changed her tune, telling fans she was fired for speaking out about the working conditions on set. 

“To my dear, dear fans still asking if I will return to that awful show, I wouldn’t return for any amount of money nor if a gun were to my head,” Rose posted in the lengthy story. “…NOR DID I QUIT,” she continued.  “Any threats, any bullying tactics or blackmail would not make me stand down.”

Rose explained that executives at Warner Bros. forced the star to return to set 10 days after her back injury. The Instagram story showed Rose’s MRIs and her getting prepped for surgery.

Rose also claimed that showrunner Caroline Dries pushed the Batwoman cast and crew to keep working during the pandemic, even after other CW shows were shut down.

The John Wick: Chapter 3 veteran also claims a production assistant was left a “quadriplegic” by an on-set accident, and another crew member suffered third-degree burns. “We were given no therapy after watching the skin fall off his face,” Rose writes.

She also claimed co-star Dougray Scott “abused women” on set, and in the message — in which Dries, Berlanti productions and producer Sarah Schecter were tagged — claimed she will go public about her time on the set. 

“I will come for you so that what happened to me never happens to another person again,” Rose said. “And so I can finally take back my life and the truth. Shame on you.”

In a statement to Deadline, Warner Bros. refuted Rose’s claims, calling it “revisionist history” and saying Rose was not asked back for season two because of “multiple complaints” about her workplace behavior. Dougray Scott also refuted the claims to TVLine, calling them “entirely made up.”

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Not even a day after Netflix head Ted Sarandos told Variety he “screwed up” about how he handled the company’s controversial Dave Chappelle special The Closer, comes a coordinated protest from trans employees and allies.

The hit special had been called transphobic by some, and even hate speech by others. 

Netflix employees staged a virtual walkout Wednesday, during which organizers declared “participating staffers will not do any work for Netflix and instead engage in content that does support the trans community and donate to charities,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. 

As that happens internally, supporters initially gathered at Netflix’s offices on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles to have their voices heard, but according to organizer Ashlee Marie Preston, the crowd grew too large at that location and moved to a nearby street. Several stars, including Queer Eye‘s Jonathan Van Ness, former Grey’s Anatomy star Sara Ramirez, and The Good Place‘s Jameela Jamil supported the protest, in a video introduced by Preston.

Preston also announced that Sarandon will be presented with a “list of demands” from the streaming service. 

According to The Verge, that list of demands from Netflix’s Trans Employee Resource Group (ERG) includes “steps…to begin to repair the relationship between the Company, our colleagues, and our audience.”

Specifically, the ERG wants Netflix, “to adopt measures in the areas of Content Investment, Employee Relations and Safety, and Harm Reduction, all of which are necessary to avoid future instances of platforming transphobia and hate speech, and to account for the harm we have caused.”

The Closer, in which Chappelle also railed against “cancel culture,” has become a hot potato for the streaming service. Amid the initial outcry, Sarandos defended it and Chappelle, noting freedom of speech and claiming that “content on screen doesn’t directly translate to real-world harm.”

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Lifetime has tapped an all-star cast for their winter 2022 film lineup.

The network announced they’re developing three new thrillers for next year’s holiday season. Those films include Single Black Female starring Raven Goodwin and Amber Riley as new best friends dealing with dark secrets; Line Sisters, a sorority sister drama headlined by LeToya Luckett and Kierra Sheard-Kelly; and Vanished: Searching for My Sister, which features Tatyana Ali in a dual role of twin sisters. Official release dates for the films have yet to be announced.

In other news, Amanda Lipitz, the award-winning director behind 2017’s Step, a documentary about a high school step team in inner-city Baltimore, has released a new documentary called Found. The feature follows three adopted American teenage girls who discover that they’re blood-related cousins and travel back to China together in search of answers. This is a personal story for Lipitz, who is aunt of one of the three adopted girls, Chloe Lipitz. Found is now available to stream on Netflix.

Finally, Paramount+ has released the official trailer to their upcoming The Game reboot. As previously noted, the 10-episode series will now take place in Las Vegas and will star many of the original cast members in their original roles. This includes Wendy Raquel Robinson as sports agent Tasha Mack, Hosea Chanchez as former star quarterback Malik Wright, and Pooch Hall as former footballer Derwin Davis. The new series is said to center on a “modern-day examination of Black culture through the prism of pro football.” Executive-produced by Mara Brock Akil, The Game launches on Paramount+ Thursday, November 11.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

A new installment of the third season of the hit competition series Tough As Nails unfolds on CBS tonight. The show highlights “real-world heroes” who keep the country moving: from firefighters to package delivery people, and every job in between. 

For host Phil Keoghan [KO-gan], he and the other producers say the series’ casts — both past and present — keep things interesting for the third go ’round. 

“The freshness comes from the new people, and then it also comes from the new challenges,” Keoghan says.

“What’s really good now is that a lot of our past contestants are making suggestions about things that we should do on the show,” Keoghan continues. “So you’re going to see that a lot more…especially once we get through the pandemic and it’s easier for us to make the show.”

Keoghan adds, “You’re going to see a lot more of our cast making guest appearances and showing their jobs, often setting the challenges for our cast. That happens on season three. You’ll see some familiar faces pop up and you’re going to see them offer up some jobs that are tough in their space and their world.”

Tough As Nails is also streaming on Paramount+.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Ken Jeong has starred in the blockbuster movies like The Hangover, had his own sitcom, Dr. Ken, and been a part of beloved TV shows like Community. But he’s also famous for being famously bad as a judge on The Masked Singer. 

The Nick Cannon-hosted hit has Ken, Jenny McCarthy, Nicole Scherzinger and Robin Thicke trying to figure out whose pipes are piping out of a collection of crazy mascot-like costumes — and bad guesses turn out to be just as fun as the reveals.

Jeong, who pursued a dream of acting after years of being a physician, explained to ABC Audio that his gig on the show is all about having a good time.

“Personally, I’ve achieved everything I want to achieve, and then some, and I feel like the rest of my life is just trying to have fun…for the rest of my days,” he admits.

“Like if you watch me on The Masked Singer… I literally just have fun being bad at that game, you know?” he says with a laugh. “And so I think if the public now just senses that I’m just trying to have a good time, you know, all the time, I think that’s I think that’s part of connection. I think that’s part of entertainment.” 

You can check out Ken doing what he does worst, and loving it, when The Masked Singer airs tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern on Fox.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

If you’re still in the hunt for a Halloween costume, Florence Pugh has an idea for you: go as her Black Widow character, Yelena. 

On Tuesday, the actress took to Instagram to made a case for why people should dress up as the on-screen spy and assassin. The reason is actually really simple — because the vest has pockets, “a lot of handy pockets.” 

Standing in front of a display window that featured costumes from  Scarlett Johansson and David Harbour‘s Black Widow characters, Pugh wrote, “What the..Apparently Yelena didn’t make the cut.”

“GUYS. I LITERALLY TALK ABOUT POCKETS IN NEARLY EVERY SCENE. Halloween= A LOT OF FREE SWEETIES.” 

May I remind you that the vest has A LOT OF HANDY POCKETS,” Pugh continued. “Costume+vest+POCKETS= someone who came prepared.”

“IT IS with great importance we understand how vital Yelena is for Halloween,” Pugh concluded, before adding, “Rant over, thanks for listening.”

So, what are you waiting for? After all, all that candy has to go somewhere. 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Florence Pugh (@florencepugh)

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.