Entertainment

Emilia Pérez director Jacques Audiard is speaking out on Karla Sofía Gascón‘s offensive posts amid the backlash that his lead actress has recently received.

In an interview with Deadline published Wednesday, Audiard condemned Gascón’s tweets, which contained Islamophobic, racist and other offensive remarks on a wide range of topics.

“It’s very hard for me to think back to the work I did with Karla Sofía,” Audiard began. “The trust we shared, the exceptional atmosphere that we had on the set that was indeed based on trust.”

He continued, “And when you have that kind of relationship and suddenly you read something that that person has said, things that are absolutely hateful and worthy of being hated, of course that relationship is affected. It’s as if you fall into a hole. Because what Karla Sofía said is inexcusable.”

Audiard said he hasn’t spoken to Gascón since her comments resurfaced.

“I don’t want to,” he said. “She is in a self-destructive approach that I can’t interfere in, and I really don’t understand why she’s continuing. Why is she harming herself? Why? I don’t understand it, and what I don’t understand about this too is why she’s harming people who were very close to her.”

“I’m thinking in this thing of how hurting others, of how she’s hurting the crew and all these people who worked so incredibly hard on this film,” he added. “I’m thinking of myself, I’m thinking of Zoe [Saldaña] and Selena [Gomez]. I just don’t understand why she’s continuing to harm us.”

Audiard continued, “I’m not getting in touch with her because right now she needs space to reflect and take accountability for her actions.”

Emilia Pérez earned 13 Oscar nominations, including best picture. Audiard is nominated for best director for the film, as well as best adapted screenplay. Gascón is nominated for best actress. She is also the first openly trans actor to earn an Oscar nomination.

Good Morning America has reached out to a representative for Gascón, Audiard and Netflix.

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Rihanna is, as she describes it, in her “blue era,” playing Smurfette, the self-described “coolest Smurf in the village” in the new live-action/animated movie Smurfs.

In a newly released trailer for this iteration of the beloved franchise film, Papa Smurf, played by John Goodman, is kidnapped by the evil wizards Razamel and Gargamel, so Smurfette and the rest of the village head to Paris to rescue him. And at one point in the trailer, the Smurfs are actually seen in the non-animated, “real” world.

In addition to Rihanna and Goodman, the film also features the voices of Nick Offerman, James Corden, Hannah Waddingham, Natasha Lyonne, Sandra Oh, Octavia Spencer, Nick Kroll, Kurt Russell and more. The film arrives in theaters July 18.

This will be the fifth full-length feature film to star the blue creatures: The most recent one was 2017’s Smurfs: The Lost Village. Both Katy Perry and Demi Lovato have played Smurfette in past films.

So, will this new film bring us any new music from Rihanna, whose last album was released in 2016? Well, in the trailer, we hear her hit “Please Don’t Stop the Music” and someone — possibly Rihanna — singing a cover of the Belinda Carlisle hit “Heaven Is a Place on Earth.” There’s also a snippet of a single from the soundtrack: “Higher Love,” by Desi Trill featuring DJ Khaled, Cardi B, Natania and Subhi. It’s available for pre-order now.

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A star-studded cast has been gathered for the new comedy Old Pals. Henry Winkler, Brian Cox, Emma Roberts and Evan Rachel Wood will star in the film, Deadline reports. The movie comes from director Wendey Stanzler and writer Rick Cisario, and follows two recent widowers, played by Winkler and Cox, who are forced to become friends when their daughters, played by Roberts and Wood, conspire to bring them together …

Ke Huy Quan and Lili Reinhart are set to star in Bad Boy, a horror film about a woman’s fight to escape a serial killer told through the eyes of the killer’s faithful pet dog. Deadline first reported the news of the project being underway from Dave Caplan, the producer of Longlegs. Jacob Chase will direct the movie from a script by Travis Braun. Casting is still underway for the dog, which will likely be a terrier. The film begins production in August …

Robert De Niro will star in an adaptation of the Alex North novel The Whisper Man, Deadline reports. The film, which will be made for Netflix and AGBO, will come from director James Ashcroft and producers Joe and Anthony Russo. The Whisper Man follows a widowed crime writer who looks to his estranged father, a retired police detective, for help after his young son is abducted …

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Clean Slate is officially on Prime Video, a new series chronicling the reunion of an old-school car wash owner named Harry and his child, who returns home a proud trans woman named Desiree after more than 23 years away.

Laverne Cox stars as Desiree, and serves as creator and executive producer of the show, and she tells ABC Audio her experience was both triggering and therapeutic.

“As we were developing the stories, before we started shooting — the multiple years that we were working on this show before we got picked up. That was fun. Like, I’m pitching story ideas with Dan [Ewen] and George [Wallace],” she says. “And then when it came time to play it and to relive it, I was triggered every day, if I’m honest. But sometimes that’s what is required to be an artist.”

“Desiree is definitely in a different time in her life,” she continues, noting she herself started therapy at about 30 years old. Though she says she’s past “dealing with my childhood trauma,” “every day I was that, like, 30-year- old Laverne, angry at my mom/dad here and lashing out and acting out.”

“It was triggering every day,” she adds. “But sometimes that’s the job.”

While there were similarities between her and Desiree, co-star George says that like his character, Harry, he’s also pretty receptive.

“I love everyone. I love people,” he says. “Isn’t it great to just be able to live and let live? And I travel all over the world so I can learn [from] other people how they live. And I learn a lot. I just love to learn the lesson. Life and love does just great.”

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Joy Behar returns to the stage in her new play, My First Ex-Husband.

Written by Behar over the span of 12 years, the new show features a rotating cast of actresses playing women who tell stories about the people they used to be married to. While fictional, the play is based on interviews Behar conducted with women in her life. It opens off-Broadway on Thursday, and The View co-host says it’s great to finally be producing something she spent so much time writing.

“I had to find people who were willing to talk about their first marriage,” Behar said. “Everything is anonymous, obviously, and the names are changed. The places are changed, the dates, all sorts of things. No one will recognize who they are. So, that took a while.”

Performing alongside Behar is one of her best friends of over 40 years, actress Susie Essman.

“People say to me, ‘How come you never had a fight with each other?’ We never fought. We never had a problem. And I’ve had girlfriends that have ghosted me or I’ve ghosted them over the years, you know. But not her,” Behar said.

She says she loves performing her own comedy for the instant feedback of laughter.

“With the drama, you don’t know if they’re crying. You don’t even know if they’re moved or touched. You can’t tell,” Behar said. “I like to have that immediate response. It might be my own insecurities, I don’t know. But that’s what it is. So, I like comedy.”

While My First Ex-Husband is funny, Behar says it has its serious moments.

“I was surprised at how funny it was, frankly,” Behar said. “Because it is poignant. I mean, a divorce is not a happy occasion. And yet, when you talk about what happened in retrospect and with distance, it’s funny.”

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The first batch of Oscars presenters have been revealed.

Cillian Murphy, Emma Stone, Robert Downey Jr. and Da’Vine Joy Randolph will return to the Oscars stage to present awards at this year’s ceremony, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Wednesday.

All four actors are returning to the awards ceremony after winning Oscars last year. They’ll present the awards for best actor, best actress, best supporting actor and best supporting actress, respectively.

The producers for the Oscars will continue announcing the talent who will present at the show throughout the coming weeks, they announced.

Conan O’Brien will host the awards ceremony for the first time, while Raj Kapoor serves as executive producer and showrunner and Katy Mullan executive produces.

The 97th Oscars will take place on March 2 at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood. It will air live on ABC and will also stream live on Hulu.

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The popular drama Shrinking, starring Jason Segel and Harrison Ford, will continue production in Los Angeles as the members of the film industry urge shows to stay put after wildfires caused destruction throughout the city.

The Apple TV+ show, which shoots in Altadena and Pasadena, begins production on its third season of television the week of Feb. 10, according to a new message shared by actress Christa Miller.

“It’s a really special moment for our cast and crew,” Miller said in her Instagram post, shared Tuesday. “Not only do we shoot in Pasadena, we film in Altadena as well.”

“After the devastating fires that hit Los Angeles it feels more important than ever to support all the communities that have been affected,” Miller continued.

The Los Angeles wildfires, which ripped through the city in January, killed 29 people and damaged thousands of structures. Altadena was specifically devastated by the Eaton fire, which burned through 14,000 acres and killed 17 people.

“This is the city where the magic happens and stories are told and dreams come true, and that’s why our show is staying here,” continued Miller. “So, here’s to resilience, to new beginnings and to Los Angeles, the beating heart of the entertainment industry.”

Miller finished, “We cannot wait to show you what we have in store for season 3.”

The news that Shrinking will remain in Los Angeles comes as the #StayinLA campaign, organized by industry professionals, has accrued over 18,000 signatures willing productions to continue to film in Los Angeles to provide support to the city’s many recovering communities.

“We were already deeply worried about the livelihoods of Los Angeles area cast and crew, not to mention the countless small businesses suffering from production moving out of state and overseas,” reads the petition.

The petition calls for tax incentives for productions that choose to stay in Los Angeles and “studios and streamers to pledge at least 10% more production in LA over the next 3-years.”

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Jonathan Bailey, Scarlett Johansson and Mahershala Ali star in the official trailer for Jurassic World Rebirth.

The trailer, which was released online Wednesday, features the trio exploring a remote island research facility that’s inhabited by, as paleontologist Dr. Henry Loomis (Bailey) describes them, dinosaurs that were “too dangerous” for the original Jurassic Park.

Also on this adventure are Zora Bennett (Johansson), a skilled covert operations expert tasked with protecting Dr. Loomis — whose safety she has guaranteed “more or less” — and her trusted team member Duncan Kincaid (Ali), who says “no one’s dumb enough to go where we’re going.”

The mission, as put forth in the official synopsis, is simple: Gather DNA from the “three most colossal creatures across land, sea and air,” who hold “the key to a drug that will bring miraculous life-saving benefits to humankind.”

The only problem? They’ll “come face-to-face with a sinister, shocking discovery that has been hidden from the world for decades.”

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story director Gareth Edwards directs with a script from original Jurassic Park screenwriter David Koepp.

The film also stars Rupert Friend, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Luna Blaise, David Iacono, Audrina Miranda, Philippine Velge, Bechir Sylvain and Ed Skrein.

Jurassic World Rebirth roars into theaters in July.

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Juliette Binoche has been named the president of the jury for the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. The honor was announced Tuesday, falling almost 40 years after her first appearance at the festival with her film The English Patient in 1985. Binoche follows behind Greta Gerwig, who presided over a jury that awarded Sean Baker‘s Anora with the Palme d’Or prize in 2024. “I never imagined I’d return 40 years later in the honorary role of President of the Jury. I appreciate the privilege, the responsibility and the absolute need for humility,” Binoche said. The 78th Cannes Film Festival will take place May 13-24 …

Olga James, the actress who starred opposite Harry Belafonte in the classic musical film Carmen Jones, died Jan. 25 at age 95. Her family announced her death on Tuesday. The actress died in an assisted living facility in LA. James also starred in the 1956 Broadway musical Mr. Wonderful, as well as the sitcom The Bill Cosby Show, where she played Verna Kincaid, the sister-in-law of Cosby’s main character …

How To Die Alone, the comedy series from creator and star Natasha Rothwell, has been canceled after one season on Hulu. In a statement to Variety, Rothwell said she intends to shop the show to other platforms. “Representation isn’t just about visibility — it’s about ensuring that our stories, our existence and our cultural contributions are not erased,” she said of the cancellation, also writing that she is “shocked, heartbroken and frankly, baffled” by the decision …

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Jesse Eisenberg wants you to know he doesn’t claim Mark Zuckerberg.

The actor played the Meta CEO and Facebook creator in the 2010 film The Social Network, a portrayal for which he was nominated for an Academy Award. While speaking with BBC 4 on Tuesday, Eisenberg said he doesn’t want to think of himself “as associated with somebody like that.”

“It’s not like I played a great golfer or something and now people think I’m a great golfer,” Eisenberg said. “It’s like this guy that’s doing things that are problematic, taking away fact-checking and safety concerns, making people who are already threatened in this world more threatened.”

Eisenberg also said he’s concerned by recent developments at Meta and with the tech world in general.

“These people have billions upon billions of dollars, like more money than any human person has ever amassed and what are they doing with it?” Eisenberg said. “Oh, they’re doing it to curry favor with somebody who’s preaching hate. That’s what I think … not as like a person who played in a movie. I think of it as somebody who is married to a woman who teaches disability justice in New York and lives for her students are going to get a little harder this year.”

The actor could be referring to Zuckerberg’s changes to Facebook and Instagram in the lead-up to Donald Trump‘s second presidential term, including the end of fact-checking on those platforms and the axing of diversity programs at Meta.

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