Entertainment

After Drake Bell‘s revelation that he was sexually abused as a Nickelodeon child star, fans have been vocal online about when his Drake & Josh co-star Josh Peck was going to publicly support him.

Even Drake noticed, and he’s now assuring fans of the beloved show that they’ve been talking privately — and to “take it a little easy” on his former co-star, who recently appeared in the Oscar-winning Oppenheimer.

In a TikTok message posted Wednesday, Bell noted, “I just want to clear something up. I’ve noticed a lot of comments on some of Josh’s TikToks and some of his posts and I just want to let you guys know that … processing this and going through this is a really emotional time, and a lot of it’s very, very difficult. So not everything is put out to the public.”

Bell added, “I just want you guys to know that he has reached out to me, and it’s been very sensitive. He has reached out to talk with me and help me work through this, and has been really, really great.”

Bell emphasized, “So just wanted to let you guys know that and to take it a little easy on him.”

In the new documentary series Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, Bell admitted he was abused by former Nickelodeon dialogue coach Brian Peck — no relation to Josh — and was the John Doe minor in Peck’s 2003 child sexual abuse case.

Peck was arrested in 2003 and charged with 11 counts, including lewd acts with a child and sexual abuse of a minor. He pleaded guilty to two of the counts, was sentenced to 16 months in prison and was ordered to register as a sex offender.

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Aaron Taylor-Johnson discussed some of his upcoming high-profile roles and responded to the rumors he’s next in line to play James Bond in a new interview with Rolling Stone UK.

When asked about the buzz that he’s been cast as the new 007, the actor told the outlet he “can only really talk about” the projects that the world knows are coming — notably The Fall Guy, Kraven the Hunter and Nosferatu.

He also addressed the commitment such a role would require of him, saying, “I don’t feel like I need to have a future drawn out for me.”

The April/May 2024 cover star made his film debut at the age of 10 in 2003’s Shanghai Knights alongside Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson, but he has been acting since he was 6.

For The Fall Guy, in which Taylor-Johnson stars as a self-centered actor with Barbie star Ryan Gosling as his stuntman, Taylor-Johnson said he and his former Bullet Train director David Leitch grew the role from what was initially meant to be just a cameo.

The actor called the action comedy “a real love letter to the stunt crew.”

After The Fall Guy hits theaters on May 3, Taylor-Johnson will next be seen in Kraven the Hunter, playing the titular Marvel supervillain for Sony Pictures.

He teased that “something unique … and something grounded” about the character drew him to the film, and said he relishes the fact that the movie, from director J. C. Chandor, has an R rating.

Taylor-Johnson also recently wrapped shooting for “cinephile” Robert Eggers‘ Nosferatu remake, which required him to trim down for the Victorian era after bulking up to play Kraven.

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Anna Camp and Griffin Matthews have been cast as series regulars for the fifth and final season of the Netflix thriller You, according to Variety. Camp will play both Raegan and Maddie Lockwood, twin sisters-in-law to Penn Badgley‘s character Joe Goldberg, described respectively as, “the cunning, cutthroat CFO of the Lockwood Corp,” and, “a thrice-divorced socialite whose job is ‘vaguely PR.'” Matthews will play Teddy Lockwood, described as Joe’s “snarky yet loyal brother-in-law.” A premiere date for season 5 has yet to be announced …

Heartstopper‘s third season will premiere in October, Netflix has revealed, along with a behind-the-scenes look at the upcoming season from the cast, with Joe Locke, Kit Connor, William Gao, Yasmin Finney, Tobie Donovan, Corinna Brown and Kizzy Edgell teasing what’s in store for their respective characters. The LGBTQ-themed series follows the love story between two British teens: The shy, nerdy Charlie Spring, played by Locke, and the popular rugby player Nick Nelson, by Connor. Season 2 left off with Charlie nearly saying “I love you” to Nick …

Succession alum Brian Cox has been tapped to voice Santa Claus in Netflix’s upcoming animated feature That Christmas, an adaptation of the beloved children’s book series The Empty Stocking, Snow Day and That Christmas, written by Notting Hill and Love Actually writer/director Richard Curtis. Fiona Shaw, Jodie Whittaker and Bill Nighy co-star as, “the residents of a charming seaside town where things turn upside down one Christmas,” according to Netflix. The film is set to debut later this year …

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Prime Video releases Road House, the “adrenaline-fueled reimagining” of the 1989 Patrick Swayze cult classic, on Thursday.

In the film, Jake Gyllenhaal plays Elwood Dalton, a down-on-his-luck former MMA fighter who takes a job trying to keep the peace as a bouncer at a rowdy Florida Keys roadhouse.

However, Billy Magnussen‘s sleazy Brandt has a family criminal legacy to live up to. He hires Knox, played by MMA champ Conor McGregor in his first movie role, and J.D. Pardo, who plays Dell, the head of a motorcycle gang, to bust up the joint.

Magnussen and Pardo both say the movie celebrates Swayze’s action classic.

“It was just awesome,” Magnussen enthuses of the original.

Pardo adds, “Incredible, man. I absolutely love that movie … So for me, it was just like to be a part of this, and pay tribute in a way to that, and Patrick Swayze, is just incredible.”

Magnussen adds, “You know what I think is really interesting? A film like that, if we look at it on paper, like, like, ‘What is the plot of this movie?’ But then you watch the film and … you go like, ‘You know what? I’m just going to enjoy it.'”

For Daniela Melchior, who plays the local doctor who falls for Gyllenhaal’s character, one of the best parts of the movie was watching McGregor work. “[I]t was so special to get to see Conor doing something for the first time because he’s so … successful in the other areas that he’s working — as a businessman, as a fighter, as everything,” she says. “So it was really special to see him doing something for the first time.”

They all agree, however, McGregor “is a character” but praise how willing he was to learn.

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Dearest readers, a new sneak peek from Bridgerton season 3 has arrived.

In the new clip, we see Kate and Anthony — whose love story was the focus of last season — share a sweet moment on the dance floor of a ball.

Anthony, played by Jonathan Bailey, pulls Kate (Simone Ashley) aside for a dance after he speaks with his sister, Francesca (Hannah Dodd).

The clip begins with Francesca telling Anthony that she’d like a moment alone. Anthony then turns his attention to his wife, Kate, who is across the room talking to his mother, Lady Violet Bridgerton (played by Ruth Gemmell).

He walks over to Kate and Lady Violet and tells his mother that Francesca “simply needed a moment. As do I.”

“And I should like to use that moment to dance with my beautiful wife,” Anthony says before leading Kate to the dance floor. While dancing, Anthony sneaks a kiss with Kate.

The new season of Bridgerton will focus on the romance between Penelope Featherington and Colin Bridgerton, played by Nicola Coughlan and Luke Newton, respectively.

According to a synopsis, the upcoming season will center around Penelope, who “has finally given up her long-held crush on Colin Bridgerton after hearing his disparaging words about her last season.”

“She has, however, decided it’s time to take a husband, preferably one who will provide her with enough independence to continue her double life as Lady Whistledown, far away from her mother and sisters,” the synopsis continues.

Bridgerton season 3 will arrive in two parts. Part one will be available to stream on Netflix on May 16, and part two will be available to stream on June 13.

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FX has dropped the trailer to the second installment of American Horror Story: Delicate, complete with a quick introduction by star Kim Kardashian.

The teaser shows Emma Roberts‘ Anna getting increasingly creeped out — and creepy — as her pregnancy develops.

“Something’s happening to me,” she says as she bites into an animal bone at a restaurant, to the shock of Kim’s character, Siobhan, a high-powered publicist.

Another moment has Roberts giving birth to a spider from her baby bump.

“I’m going to give you the life of your dreams,” Kim later tells her. “What would [you] give up for it?”

“Anything,” Roberts replies, to which Siobhan leans in and kisses Anna.

It only gets more intense from there, with Anna expressing of an Oscar, “I don’t know if I can keep campaigning for this award,” only to be answered with a smack across the face from Kim’s character.

“I will never let you say another word about quitting,” Siobhan says.

However, the statement is not all about her career: There’s a cult after her unborn baby. Anna finds herself tortured by visions and surrounded by women dressed like witches, including Cara Delevigne‘s Nurse Ivy and Siobhan.

“You’re a monster!” Anna tells her.

“Oh no, babe, I’m so much worse,” Kim purrs.

American Horror Story: Delicate Part 2 premieres Wednesday, April 3, at 10 p.m. ET on FX.

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Having transitioned from late-night host to head of a podcasting empire, Conan O’Brien is stretching his long legs in the trailer to Max’s new travel show Conan O’Brien Must Go. 

The coming attraction features a voiceover from Werner Herzog, who intones, “Earth. To truly appreciate the outstanding grandeur, sometimes you must defile it. Behold the defiler,” revealing O’Brien in full Viking regalia.

The streaming service says the four-episode series “will feature O’Brien visiting new friends he’s met through his podcast, Conan O’Brien Needs a Fan, where he dives deep with listeners from across the country and the world.”

To that end, Conan is seen taking part in some Muay Thai kickboxing training in Thailand, slinging some cod in Norway and finding out his fame hasn’t translated to a “Conan” name boom in Ireland.

He also tangles about the proper pronunciation of “tango” with his former frequent Conan foil Jordan Schlansky in the dance’s native home of Argentina.

The show streams April 18 on Max.

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On Wednesday, 20th Century Studios released a teaser trailer to Alien: Romulus, the latest incarnation of the sci-fi franchise started by Ridley Scott‘s 1979 classic Alien.

Promising to get the franchise “back to its roots,” the studio teases, “While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonizers come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe.”

The sneak peek begins with a creepy tracking shot inside that station along with the screams of its occupants. “Help me! Get it away from me!” a woman shouts. “I don’t know what it is!” a panicked man replies.

The camera stops moving and focuses on one of the franchise’s cryo-sleep tubes, broken and slathered with blood, before a voice says, “Run.”

The teaser then cuts to frenetic clips of the salvagers trying to escape an infestation of facehuggers, the skittering life forms that can fatally impregnate an organism with a baby “chestburster” alien, as well as spooky, siren light-lit shots familiar to fans of Alien and its 1986 sequel Aliens.

Ridley Scott produced the new film, directed by Fede Álvarez, who called the shots on 2016’s micro-budgeted horror blockbuster Don’t Breathe.

The film’s cast includes Priscilla’s Cailee Spaeny, Isabela Merced from The Last of Us, Aftersun‘s Spike Fearn, and Shadow and Bone‘s Archie Renaux.

Alien: Romulus invades theaters August 16.

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On Wednesday, Epic Games and Marvel Entertainment released a trailer for a forthcoming World War II-set video game starring Captain America and Black Panther. 

1943: The Rise of Hydra has both super-powered heroes separately hunting for The Eye of Force, a fearsome development made by Hydra, the rogue Nazi deep science division headed by Red Skull in the comics and on the big screen in 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger.

However, Cap is also hunting for the “six-foot cat man with claws that can cut through vibranium alloy” — that is, Azzuri, who wore the warrior-king mantel of Black Panther before his grandson, King T’Challa.

The cinematic trailer shows both heroes on the streets and on the rooftops above Nazi-occupied France until they come face to face on a bridge. “Stand aside,” Cap warns the Wakandan hero. “I do not take orders from ANYONE!” Azzuri howls, before they leap at each other.

According to Marvel, the title features “an ensemble of four heroes playable at different points in the game,” including Gabriel Jones, a U.S. soldier and member of Cap’s Howling Commandos, and Nanali, an embedded Wakandan spy.

As their “worlds collide,” the characters “must overcome their differences and form an uneasy alliance to confront their common enemy,” the company teases. 

The title from Epic Games is slated for a 2025 release.

Marvel is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.

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Dan Schneider is responding to the allegations against him in the docuseries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.

The four-part series on Max includes interviews with former child stars from Nickelodeon shows like All That and The Amanda Show and explores claims about Schneider fostering a toxic work environment.

In an interview with former iCarly actor BooG!e, the former television creator said the docuseries made him feel “awful and regretful and sorry.”

“I wish I could go back … and just do a better job and never, ever feel like it was OK to be an a****** ever,” Schneider professes.

Another allegation he addressed was his alleged use of inappropriate jokes on his many shows.

“Every one of those jokes was written for a kid audience because kids thought they were funny,” Schneider insists. “Now, we have some adults looking back at them 20 years later through their lens, and … saying, ‘I don’t think that’s appropriate for a kid show.'”

“The last thing I want to ever do is put any content in a show that’s going to upset my audience and make them want to turn off the TV,” he added.

One of the biggest revelations from the docuseries was that former Nickelodeon star Drake Bell said he was the John Doe minor in the 2003 child sexual abuse case against his former dialogue coach Brian Peck.

Peck was arrested in 2003 and charged with 11 counts, including lewd acts with a child and sexual abuse of a minor. He pleaded guilty to two of the counts, was sentenced to 16 months in prison and was ordered to register as a sex offender.

Schneider said he spoke to Bell and was “devastated by that more than anything that ever happened to me in my career thus far.”

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