Entertainment

Bridgerton veteran Ruby Barker, who played Marina on the hit show, claims Netflix and Shonda Rhimes‘ Shondaland production company gave her no support when she suffered a pair of psychotic breaks.

In a discussion with Oxford University’s LOAF Podcast, the English actress explained her first break occurred in 2019 after she wrapped production on the show’s first season; the second occurred in 2022.

“Not a single person from Netflix, not a single person from Shondaland … have even contacted me or even emailed me to ask me if I’m okay or if I would benefit from any sort of aftercare or support,” she expressed. “Nobody.”

Barker’s character was “alienated, very ostracized” for getting pregnant out of wedlock, which the actress claimed was “tormenting” and led to her “deteriorating.”

“When I went into hospital a week after shooting Bridgerton Season 1, it was really covered up and kept on the down-low because the show was going to be coming out,” she said.

At the time, “I was just coming out from hospital … I had all these engagements to do.” Barker explained, “My life was changing drastically overnight and yet there was still no support and there still hasn’t been any support … So I was trying really, really hard to act like it was ok and that I could work and that it wasn’t a problem.”

She added, “It’s almost like I had this metaphorical invisible gun to my head to sell this show because this show is bubbly and fun..,” noting she feared her fledgling career would end if she spoke up.

Barker’s second hospitalization was more public, as she told her Instagram followers she had been “really unwell” and “struggling since Bridgerton.”

That said, at the time, she thanked the streaming service for “saving” her when she was cast.

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Although representatives for SAG-AFTRA and The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), the organization representing the major Hollywood studios, are meeting again Tuesday, the performers’ union says the two parties are still at an impasse.

On Monday, the union’s negotiating committee sent a message to its members noting that “talks over the past week have been productive,” but the two opposing groups “remain far apart on key issues.”

The message from the negotiators urged SAG-AFTRA members to “help us keep up the pressure on the AMPTP by showing up on the picket lines, raising your voices at rallies across the country, and by posting messages of support and strength on social media.”

The union also requested social media support, urging different actions on successive days between Halloween and Friday, November 3.

Its #SAGAftraStrongChallenge is looking for members to show off their SAG-AFTRA shirts, send messages of encouragement to its negotiators, and showcase their creativity with signs supporting the strike, which has been underway since July 14.

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Milo Ventimiglia and his girlfriend, model Jarah Mariano, tied the knot in a private ceremony attended by family and close friends earlier this year, Us Weekly first reported and People confirmed through a rep on Monday, October 30.

Neither Ventimiglia, 46, nor Mariano, 38, has publicly confirmed their relationship, though the couple has been spotted in California together in recent months after the This Is Us alum bought a ranch house in Malibu last year, per Us Weekly.

Fans first got wind of Ventimiglia and Mariano’s romance in 2022 after the pop culture Instagram account Deuxmoi reported they were an item, according to People. When a follower asked who he was dating, Deuxmoi posted the question on their Instagram Story with a photo of Ventimiglia and Mariano in their bathing suits together, each with their hands on a bottle of champagne as they gazed into each other’s eyes.

“Welcome to the hood @jaharm + mi,” read the caption.

Deuxmoi shared another post about the couple back in June, prompting one follower to ask if they were married after Mariano was spotted wearing a “big ole diamond ring and band.”

Ventimiglia has kept his love life private over the years, telling People in 2017 that he prefers to keep his personal life out of the spotlight due to his respect for his craft.

“I try to minimize myself so people can see the character and can really dive into the work,” he explained. “I try and remain as anonymous and invisible as I can so it doesn’t take away from the experience of the men that I play. I don’t know how interesting my life is any more than anyone else’s.”

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The tributes continue to pour in for Matthew Perry, who was found dead in his Los Angeles home on October 28 at the age of 54.

Molly Hurwitz, who was in a relationship with the former Friends star from 2018 until their split in 2021 after a six-month engagement, posted to Instagram Monday her thoughts on his passing.

“He would love that the world is talking about how talented he was. And he really was very talented,” the literary agent captioned a picture of Perry from behind, taking in a beautiful snow-covered cityscape.

“As the Friends reunion was approaching, we rewatched the show together,” she continued. “‘F***, I was so good!!!…See what I did there???'” she recalled Perry saying.

“We rewound and studied scenes. Our respect and appreciation of humor is something that connected us. Being with him as he rediscovered his brilliance was magical,” Hurwitz expressed.

She added, “But, I obviously knew that man in a very different way, too. While I loved him deeper than I could comprehend, he was complicated, and he caused pain like I’d never known. No one in my adult life has had a more profound impact on me than Matthew Langford Perry. I have tremendous gratitude for that, for everything I learned from our relationship.”

In addition to mentioning the addiction support organization Al-Anon, Hurwitz concluded with, “Matty, I feel relief that you are at peace,” before signing off with an obvious pet name between the pair, “Sincerely, Moll-o-Rama(…fication).”

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It Follows writer-director David Robert Mitchell and Maika Monroe, who starred in the 2014 cult horror classic, are set to return for the sequel, They Follow, according to Variety. The original, which followed Monroe’s Jay Height, a young woman who is pursued by a supernatural entity after a sexual encounter, grossed an impressive $15 million at the domestic box office, despite its shoestring budget…

The long-running children’s series Sesame Street is getting a makeover for its 56th season set to launch in 2025, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The program will switch its usual “magazine”-style format in favor of two longer, more narrative-driven segments, the trade reports. The segments will be coupled with a new animated series, Tales From 123. Other tweaks will include having a signature song in every episode — and having the Muppet characters address the camera to talk to the kids watching the show…

Variety reports a Fourth Wing TV show based on the best-selling fantasy book series by Rebecca Yarrosis — who will also executive produce the series — is currently in the works at Amazon MGM Studios. According to the studios’ official logline, the series will follow “the brutal world of Basgiath War College where there is only one rule: Graduate or Die.” It continues, “Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail expected to live a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general― her tough-as-talons mother―has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders. If the fire-breathing beasts don’t kill her, one of her fellow riders just might”…

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After more than two years of evading the prying eyes of the paparazzi, Zoë Kravitz and Channing Tatum are engaged, according to People, with multiple sources confirming the news.

The couple had been the subject of swirling rumors since the summer of 2021, but the engagement news comes after Kravitz was spotted sporting an engagement ring while attending Kendall Jenner‘s Halloween bash alongside Tatum.

The pair’s love story began on the set of Kravitz’s directorial debut, P**** Island, where Kravitz said Tatum’s nurturing and protective nature brought them closer.

Before this engagement, Kravitz was married to actor Karl Glusman from 2019-2021, while Tatum had a prior marriage to Jenna Dewan, with whom he shares a 10-year-old daughter named Everly.

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The Hunger Games prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes has received an interim agreement from SAG-AFTRA, giving stars Rachel Zegler, Tom Blyth, Viola Davis, Peter Dinklage and Hunter Schafer the go-ahead to promote the film ahead of its November 17 theatrical release, according to Variety.

The agreement could provide a much needed boost to the film that cost $100 million to make. It’s also the first installment in the billion-dollar franchise in eight years and the first without Jennifer Lawrence. 

Films that haven’t gotten interim agreements — such as Sony’s comedy Dumb Money, with Seth Rogen, Pete Davidson and America Ferrera — have struggled at the box office due to the stars’ inability to talk up the films on late-night talk shows and walk the red carpet. Other big budget movies, like Dune: Part Two, have moved their release dates to 2024.

So far, more than 100 films, including Priscilla and Ferrari, have obtained interim agreements amid the SAG-AFTRA strike, per Variety. To get an interim agreement, producers must operate independently from companies belonging to the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and agree to terms proposed by the guild in its negotiations.

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The Friends cast has released a joint statement in the wake of Matthew Perry‘s death.

In the statement shared with ABC News, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer and Matt LeBlanc paid tribute to their late co-star and friend, who died Saturday at the age of 54, according to law enforcement sources.

Perry was known for playing Chandler Bing on the hit sitcom, which ran from 1994 to 2004.

“We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew. We were more than just cast mates. We are a family,” their statement reads. “There is so much to say, but right now we’re going to take a moment to grieve and process this unfathomable loss.”

“In time we will say more, as and when we are able,” the statement continues. “For now, our thoughts and our love are with Matty’s family, his friends, and everyone who loved him around the world.”

The Friends cast remained close following the show’s series finale and reunited onscreen in the 2021 special, Friends: The Reunion.

In a statement Sunday, the LAPD said Perry “was discovered by a witness unresponsive in his jacuzzi” on Saturday at around 4 p.m. PT. “The Los Angeles City Fire Department responded to the scene and pronounced Perry deceased,” the LAPD statement said.

The LA County coroner confirmed Sunday to ABC News that an autopsy was performed. Perry’s cause of death is pending while they wait for toxicology results, which could take weeks.

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As fans await a joint statement from his former Friends cast mates, Salma Hayek Pinault has posted a tribute to Instagram for her Fools Rush In co-star Matthew Perry.

Perry played a strait-laced executive who falls for Hayek’s free-spirited photographer in the 1997 rom-com.

“Two days ago, I woke up to the shocking news that Matthew Perry is no longer with us,” her caption to a series of throwback photos of the pair began. “It’s taken me a couple of days to process this profound sadness.”

She continued, “There is a special bond that happens when you share dreams with someone, and together you work towards them. I was very moved last year when Matthew shared on his Instagram stories how much he loved ‘Fools Rush In,’ and how he thought that that film we did together was probably his best movie.”

Salma added, “Throughout the years, he and I found ourselves reminiscing about that meaningful time in our lives with a deep sense of nostalgia and gratitude.”

Hayek Pinault concluded, “My friend, you are gone much too soon, but I will continue to cherish your silliness, your perseverance, and your lovely heart. Farewell, sweet Matthew, we will never forget you.”

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Mary Lou Retton is speaking out for the first time about a life-threatening health scare that required a nearly two-week stay in the intensive care unit.

Retton, 55, Instagrammed a thank you to her fans and followers for their support as she battled what her daughters previously described as a very rare form of pneumonia. Pneumonia is an infection that causes the air sacs of the lungs to fill with fluid, according to the National Institutes of Health.

“I am overwhelmed with all the love and support form [sic] the world as I fight,” Retton wrote in an Instagram post Monday. “I am forever grateful to you all!”

Retton, a mom of four daughters, was discharged from the hospital last week, two of her daughters shared on social media at the time. They noted she was unable to breathe on her own when she was first hospitalized.

In her post, Retton said she has made a tremendous recovery over the past several weeks, writing, “I’m beyond blessed to have the opportunity to make this statement.”

She plans to share more details of her health battle in the future to help others, but for now, she’s focusing on her recovery.

“I’m with family continuing to slowly recover and staying very positive as I know this recovery is a long and slow process,” she wrote. “I appreciate everyone’s respect of my privacy at this time.”

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