Entertainment

Madonna kicked off the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards with a star-studded performance featuring Sabrina Carpenter and Charli XCX.

The Queen of Pop opened Sunday night’s show with her first VMAs performance in 23 years, taking the stage after the ceremony was delayed by the Baltimore Ravens-Dallas Cowboys game.

Carpenter joined Madonna early in the performance for “Bring Your Love,” their house-pop collaboration from Madonna’s latest album, Confessions II.

The pair got the crowd on its feet with the dance floor anthem before Charli XCX made a surprise appearance for a performance of her remix of Madonna’s “Danceteria.”

Madonna’s opening number also featured appearances from Seth Rogen, Sombr and Julia Garner, who had previously been linked to playing Madonna in a biopic about the singer’s life and career.

The performance marked a major return to the VMAs stage for Madonna, who has delivered some of the award show’s most memorable moments over the decades. She was also the night’s big winner, taking home seven trophies, including artist of the year.

Taylor Swift, meanwhile, made history by becoming the first recipient of the Artist Director Honors.

Dakota Johnson presented Swift with the inaugural award, recognizing the singer-songwriter’s work behind the camera and contributions to music video storytelling.

Following her acceptance speech, Swift premiered the music video for her new single, “Patient Zero,” which she directed and stars in alongside Johnson and Colin Farrell.

The 2026 MTV VMAs aired live Sunday night on CBS, and was simulcast on MTV and streamed on Paramount+.

Below are the winners in the major categories:

VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Taylor Swift, “The Fate of Ophelia”

ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Madonna

SONG OF THE YEAR
BTS, “Swim”

BEST NEW ARTIST, presented by The General Insurance®
Sienna Spiro

BEST COLLABORATION
Madonna & Sabrina Carpenter – “Bring Your Love”

BEST POP
LISA – “Dream feat. Kentaro Sakaguchi”

BEST DANCE, presented by BACARDÍ® Rum
Madonna – “Confessions II – The Film”

BEST K-POP
BTS – “SWIM”

BEST HIP-HOP
Cardi B ft. Kehlani – “Safe”

BEST R&B
Bruno Mars – “I Just Might”

BEST ALTERNATIVE
Olivia Rodrigo – “the cure”

BEST LATIN
Bad Bunny – “NUEVAYoL”

BEST COUNTRY
Ella Langley – “Choosin’ Texas”

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Sabrina Carpenter and Margaret Qualley are joining Tom Holland on the dance floor.

The two are set to star opposite Holland in Sony Pictures’ upcoming Fred Astaire film. Carpenter will play Astaire’s frequent on-screen dance partner Ginger Rogers. Qualley will play his sister Adele Astaire. The brother and sister duo performed together on Broadway and London’s West End before Fred Astaire made it big in Hollywood.

The currently untitled film, directed by Paul King, is based on the book The Astaires: Fred & Adele by Kathleen Riley.

“I am thrilled and honored to have been entrusted with telling the story of Fred Astaire and his original dance partner — his big sister Adele — to the big screen,” King said in a statement. “Fred left a timeless legacy of dance on film — most famously in his collaborations with Ginger Rogers — while Adele’s work has been lost to history; indeed, no footage of her dancing survives.”

“The cinematic challenge of bringing to life these icons of the twentieth century is one that I could not imagine without Tom Holland, Margaret Qualley and Sabrina Carpenter by my side,” he continued.

Back in July, Holland told Good Morning America that he was about to head back into the dance studio in preparation for the role. “I did my first few rehearsals recently, and it both filled me with excitement and absolute dread,” he said. “Because I’ve got so much work to do to try to do Fred proud.”

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Fake Skating has found its leads.

The film adaptation of the high school hockey romance novel by Lynn Painter has cast a couple of on-the-rise young actors in its starring roles: Sterling Point’s Amélie Hoeferle and The Shards’ Graham Campbell.

They’ll play Dani and Alec, two childhood sweethearts who reunite in high school and hatch a fake dating plot to help each other reach their respective goals. Dani is an academically gifted student who wants more extracurricular activities to impress Harvard and Alec is a talented ice hockey player who wants to improve his reputation and impress NHL scouts.

Fake Skating marks the first book by Painter to get a screen adaptation. As previously reported, The Fault in Our Stars director Josh Boone is on board to direct. Morgan Lehmann and Victoria Bata wrote its screenplay while Boone and his writing partner Knate Lee handled its revisions.

Both Hoeferle and Campbell had breakout TV roles this year. Hoeferle plays Ramona Campbell in the Prime Video hit coming-of-age drama series Sterling Point, while Campbell plays Thom Wright in the FX thriller series The Shards.

Fake Skating hits theaters July 16, 2027.

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A new comedy series from Mekki Leeper is headed to Prime Video.

The streaming service has announced it has given a series order to New Money, a half-hour comedy series created, written and starring Jury Duty and St. Denis Medical actor Leeper.

New Money is described as an ensemble workplace comedy that’s set in the “fast-paced and morally dubious world of private equity,” according to an official synopsis.

“The show follows a trustfund-baby-turned-(self-proclaimed)-mogul and his staff of misguided wannabes at New Money Worldwide, Southern California’s least successful venture capital firm. Delusions of grandeur and complete incompetence will not stop our nepo-baby hero and his team of dedicated misfits, from failing upwards as they recklessly invest money in a desperate attempt to make exponentially more money,” the synopsis continues.

The upcoming show is based on the pilot for Fintech, which Leeper self-financed, created and directed.

“Mekki Leeper is a rare talent and a sharp comedic voice who brings an original perspective to everything he does,” Peter Friedlander, head of Global Television, Amazon MGM Studios, said in a press release. “Paired with the incredible creative pedigree of Joe Mande, New Money is the kind of smart, irreverent comedy that audiences love.”

Emmy winner and Hacks‘ Joe Mande executive produces and co-showruns alongside Leeper. Rob Mac also serves as a producer for his company More Better.

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The Beast in Me is coming back for season 2.

Netflix has announced the series will return for a second season with Claire Danes back in her Emmy-nominated role as Aggie Wiggs. She executive produces alongside co-showrunner Howard Gordon, who also writes on the series. Daniel Pearle will co-showrun and executive produce season 2.

Additionally, Netflix announced it has forged a creative partnership with Gordon. He will develop new series exclusively for the streaming service through his Teakwood Lane Productions banner. 

“We always told ourselves we’d only do a second season of The Beast in Me if we found a story that was worthy of the first — and I’m thrilled to say we found it. We loved making this show and our audience seemed to love watching it, so we’re enormously grateful to Jinny Howe and Netflix, and to Karey Burke and 20th Television for giving us the chance to get the band back together and do it again,” Gordon said in a press release.

Jinny Howe, the Netflix head of Scripted Series, said, “We are thrilled to bring back The Beast in Me and to welcome Howard Gordon to the Netflix family with this creative partnership. The series captivated global audiences, delivered extraordinary performances led by Claire Danes, and earned Matthew Rhys a historic Emmy win. We are incredibly proud of what Howard Gordon, Gabe Rotter, and the entire cast and crew achieved. We can’t wait for audiences to see what Howard and Daniel Pearle have in store for the next season.”

No further casting or season 2 details are available at this time. Netflix says audiences can expect the information at a later date.

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A Glee reboot is officially in the works.

Ryan Murphy gave an update on a revival of the musical series to Entertainment Tonight this week, saying a script has been written.

“Well, funny you ask, because I just finished the script an hour ago,” he said. “We have a script. Brad [Falchuk], Ian [Brennan] and I, who wrote all the first two seasons, have written something.”

He also said he’s been in touch with some of the original cast members.

“I’ve been in touch with around 10 of the original cast members, and it’s very sweet,” he said. “They’ve all had a lot of questions, but they all were very enthusiastic about the idea.”

“Nobody’s read it, so I don’t know, we’ll see,” he added. “I mean, I vowed to myself that I wanted to write a couple of them to see what people think, particularly the cast, ’cause we were very close when we were making it.”

Glee aired on Fox for six seasons, from 2009 to 2015. It followed a high school glee club and starred Lea Michele, the late Cory Monteith, Amber Riley, Chris Colfer, Kevin McHale, Jenna Ushkowitz, Matthew Morrison, Jane Lynch and more.

Murphy’s show American Horror Story debuted its 13th season Thursday.

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Theranos founder-turned-convicted felon Elizabeth Holmes is sharing an intimate look at her family life and her belief that she “did not” do anything wrong in a new trailer for her upcoming documentary.

In the opening scene for the new trailer for You Can See Everything, filmmaker Nathan Fielder asks Holmes, “You really feel you did nothing wrong?”

“I did not,” Holmes replies to Felder, who then asks her, “Where did things get lost?”

“I wish I knew. I don’t know. I don’t feel like I understand that,” replies Holmes, who filmed the documentary in 2023 before she reported to prison.

Holmes was found guilty in January 2022 on four counts of fraud against investors who had poured millions of dollars into Theranos, a Silicon Valley blood-testing startup. She was sentenced to over 11 years in prison.

Fielder, who rose to prominence for his show Nathan For You, is seen in the trailer moving in with Holmes and her partner, Billy Evans, and their children.

“I don’t think so,” Holmes tells Fielder when he asks if she is worried about a filmmaker living with them 24/7, adding, “I think this is the moment in time to capture this story before I’m gone.”

Fielder is also seen in the trailer speaking with Evans, who has a quick reply when asked if he’s ever been suspicious that Holmes has lied to him.

“No, never,” Evans says.

In one of the trailer’s final scenes, Holmes tells Fielder, “I don’t have anything to hide.”

You Can See Everything, directed by Lance Oppenheim in addition to Fielder, is scheduled to be released in theaters on Oct. 16.

A synopsis for the film says it was filmed 34 days before she reported to prison, adding, “What begins as an intimate portrait of an enigmatic felon becomes a mind-bending three-year journey into the abyss.”

Holmes’ X account shared a link to a clip from the documentary on Sept. 6, when the film was first announced.

“I’m always being real,” Holmes captioned the clip.

 

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(NEW YORK) — Harvey Weinstein was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years in prison for the sexual assault of Mimi Haley, a former production assistant, in 2006 in New York City.

“I am not a perfect person,” Weinstein told the judge before sentencing. “I live with many regrets, and sincerely apologize for my actions.”

Weinstein said he is “treated like an animal, or less” in custody, and said he will focus his final years on advocating for change within the prison system.

“You had it all. Your legacy could have been cemented with greatness,” Judge Curtis Farber said to the disgraced movie mogul. “But you threw it all away by assaulting Miriam Haley.”

Weinstein was convicted last year of assaulting Haley. The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office asked for a 20-year sentence.

Haley told the judge Wednesday that she felt like she’s been on trial for the last seven years.

On Wednesday, DA Alvin L. Bragg, Jr. thanked Haley “and all of the survivors who came to lend their support.”

“I’m moved, as we should all be moved, by their courage and their steadfastness through what has obviously been a challenging process,” he said.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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She’s married to the hustle, and now she knows the encore of a showgirl.

Taylor Swift has announced the upcoming release of a continuation of her 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl. The global music superstar will release four new songs, including the previously announced single “Patient Zero,” in a new version of the album dubbed The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore. It releases on Friday.

Swift made the announcement about this new version of the album in a post to Instagram on Wednesday.

“About a year ago, you guys did a truly unfathomable thing. Something that completely blew my mind… You gave The Life of a Showgirl the biggest first week for an album in history,” Swift wrote. “I took a trip to Sweden to celebrate with Max and Shellback, my two collaborators on this album. Really we just wanted to reflect and take in how grateful we were for the moment we were in, but there was a studio there and we did what we do when we feel anything at all: We wrote more songs.”

Swift continued, writing she hopes her fans love the songs, because “they were born out of pure gratitude for your exuberance for and celebration of the album we made.”

A preorder page on Swift’s website shows that the three other new song titles on The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore are “Cleveland!,” “Pink Clouding” and “Babylon.” They join “Patient Zero” as tracks 13 through 16 on the expanded version of the album.

Eagle-eyed fans noticed Swift has been teasing this release for a while. She included the phrase “Patient for the encore” on a marquee to the side of the frame in her “Opalite” music video.

While a physical release of The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore has yet to be announced, Swift did make CD versions of the single “Patient Zero.” They were made available on her website on Tuesday, but have since sold out.

The original version of The Life of a Showgirl released on Oct. 3, 2025.

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The nephew of late music star Dolly Parton who served as her longtime head of security confirms he was fired after her death, and said a restraining order has been requested against him by the corporation that runs Parton’s entertainment empire.

“The restraining order is spurious and simply a publicity stunt,” Bryan Seaver said in a statement to ABC News Wednesday.

Seaver was the family member who officially announced Parton’s death in a video message released after the 80-year-old singer died on Aug. 25 after a brief battle with cancer.

He told ABC News he was fired last week after serving as Parton’s head of security for nearly 20 years.

Seaver, a son of one of Parton’s 11 siblings, said he was terminated over what he calls “contrived threats.”

“I was fired. After the estate negotiated with me and my company for services in perpetuity and agreed to that service provision from my company,” Seaver said in a statement. “A week later they fired me for these contrived ‘threats.'”

Parton, who became known for her entrepreneurial skills in addition to her music prowess, left behind a multimillion dollar estate, including the Dollywood amusement park. She and her husband of nearly 60 years, Carl Dean, who died last year, had no children.

On Tuesday, She’s Alive, the company overseeing Parton’s multiple businesses, filed for a restraining order against Seaver, accusing him of “an obscene, deliberate and escalating campaign of threats” against Parton’s estate, according to a request for a temporary restraining order filed Tuesday in Davidson County Chancery Court in Nashville.

The document also alleges Seaver threatened attorneys, business partners and employees and at one point allegedly warned he could “destroy the entire brand” unless he was paid.

Seaver is also alleged to have told a member of Parton’s legal team, “I’m not an entertainment person. I’m a killer,” according to the court document.

Seaver denies the allegations in the court filing, telling ABC News that his late aunt jokingly called him “her killer.”

“Dolly called me her killer. It was a joke we used around her camp,” Seaver said. “I was her ‘baby boy ninja’ and Danny Nozell took that text out of context to somehow imagine that I was threatening him. He’s always called me The Killer.”

He added, “I’ve never threatened anyone … They are my friends and my brothers and colleagues.”

Nozell, Parton’s longtime manager who oversees She’s Alive, has not replied to ABC News’ request for comment.

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