Entertainment

King Richard star Aunjanue Ellis is living her true, authentic life, revealing in a new interview with Variety that she’s bisexual.

Although the news isn’t news to those close to the actress, her sexuality wasn’t something that had been in the media before and the answer for why that was is simple.

“Nobody asked,” Ellis, 53, shared.

The Oscar nominee even recalled wearing a Dolce & Gabbana suit jacket with the word “Queer” in rhinestones back in March at the Essence Black Women in Hollywood Awards.

“I was thinking, ‘Why didn’t more people pay attention to that? And I was like, they probably thought it said ‘Queen,'” she said with a laugh.

As for why she never brought up the topic herself, Ellis explained, “How do you work that into the conversation, in the middle of me talking about this movie? I’m not that chick.”

“My job was to talk about King Richard, the Williams family, these wonderful young women I worked with, Will Smith’s incredible work in that movie,” she continued. “I wasn’t going to be like, ‘And by the way, in case you ain’t heard yet…’ Because that’s artificial.”

Ellis said she’s “very clear about being bisexual,” noting, “I have a sweatshirt that says ‘Girl Bi’ that I wear everywhere, however she added that Black women in the entertainment industry fail to recognize her as part of the LGBTQ community.

“There is an assumption made of me, a presumption made of me. Is it because I’m a Black woman from Mississippi? Is it because I’m older? I don’t know what the mechanics are that goes into them not processing, or them not just being able to believe that in the same way I am Black, I am queer. This is who I am,” she said.

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When veteran voiceover actor John DiMaggio refused to sign onto new episodes of Futurama for Hulu earlier this year, he mentioned it was a matter of money and respect.

When the alter ego of the show’s hard-drinking robot Bender agreed in March to come back, he got lots of the latter, but none of the former.

In a new interview with SlashFilm, DiMaggio said, “People are like, ‘I’m so glad you got more money!’ I didn’t get more money. But what I did get was a lot of respect and a lot of head nods from people who are like, ‘Yo bro, I see you and thank you.'”

The actor, who is also a veteran of Adventure Time, likened his standoff to “David vs. Goliath,” with the latter being Disney, ABC News’ parent company and a controlling partner of the streaming service.

“… trying to get money out of Disney is like trying to get blood from a stone — you ain’t gonna get it!” the actor jabbed.

That said, he called his showdown ultimately rewarding. He said weighing his decision to rejoin his castmates, including Katey Segal, Phil LaMarr and Billy West, was like being “in the house having a nice Thanksgiving dinner, or … standing across the street in the freezing rain watching everybody eat stuffing.”

DiMaggio’s brinksmanship at one point had Hulu reportedly searching for a soundalike for the beloved character, which apparently didn’t sit well with show creators Matt Groening and David X. Cohen.

New Futurama episodes are expected to hit Hulu in 2023.

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Moments after a Virginia jury handed Johnny Depp an overwhelming victory in his defamation suit against his ex-wife, Amber Heard, both sides weighed in.

Depp wasn’t present in the courtroom Wednesday, due to “previously scheduled work commitments” overseas, but his reps tell ABC News he watched the end of the headline-grabbing trial from the U.K.

To Instagram, Depp posted the following statement:

“Six years ago, my life, the life of my children, the lives of those closest to me, and also, the lives of the people, who for many, many years have supported and believed in me were forever changed. All in the blink of an eye,” the actor began.

“False, very serious and criminal allegations were levied at me via the media, which triggered an endless barrage of hateful content, although no charges were ever brought against me.”

He continued, “It had already traveled around the world twice within a nanosecond and it had a seismic impact on my life and my career.”

Depp added, “… six years later, the jury gave me my life back. I am truly humbled.”

“My decision to pursue this case knowing very well the height of the legal hurdles that I would have to be facing and the inevitable, worldwide spectacle into my life, was only made after considerable thought,” he maintained.

“From the very beginning, the goal of bringing this case was to reveal the truth, regardless of the outcome. Speaking the truth was something that I owed to my children and to all of those who have remained steadfast in their support of me. I feel at peace knowing I have finally accomplished that.”

For her part, Heard, who was in the courtroom Wednesday, said she was “heartbroken” by the jury’s decision.

“The disappointment I feel today is beyond words,” she said in a statement to ABC News. “… the mountain of evidence still was not enough to stand up to the disproportionate power, influence, and sway of my ex-husband.”

The Aquaman star added, “I’m even more disappointed with what this verdict means for other women. It is a setback. It sets back the clock to a time when a woman who spoke up and spoke out could be publicly shamed and humiliated. It sets back the idea that violence against women is to be taken seriously.”

The jury unanimously agreed that Heard’s allegations in the Washington Post op-ed, which were at the center of the case, were false and intentionally defamed Depp. He sued for $50 million, claiming the article hurt his career.

The jury awarded him $10 million and $5 million in punitive damages, but Judge Penney Azcarate reduced the latter to $350,000, the maximum allowed by Virginia law.

Heard counter-sued Depp for $100 million, claiming statements made by Depp’s former attorney Adam Waldman defamed her. However, the jury rejected all but one of her counterclaims, awarding her $2 million in compensatory damages and nothing for punitive damages.

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Jurors in Johnny Depp‘s defamation trial have awarded him a major legal victory against Amber Heard, agreeing she defamed Depp with a controversial 2018 op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post in December of 2018.

After a third day of deliberations, Depp was awarded $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages, though Judge Penney Azcarate clarified Virginia law caps the latter at $350,000.

Depp, 58, sued Heard, 36, for $50 million, claiming the article obliquely — and falsely — accused him of abuse, which in turn devastated the Pirates of the Caribbean star’s career.

Heard filed a $100 million countersuit against Depp, claiming Depp’s former attorney defamed her in response to the article. However, the jury did not agree to most of her claims, awarding her just $2 million in compensatory damages — but no punitive damages.

The decision from the five men and two women in the jury was handed down in the Fairfax, Virginia, courthouse where the civil trial has grabbed headlines for weeks, as the two stars lobbed accusations of abuse against each other.

The couple met while filming 2011’s The Rum Diary and were married from 2015 to 2017.

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BET announced the nominees for the 2022 BET Awards Wednesday, naming Summer Walker, Chris Brown, H.E.R, Nicki Minaj, Yung Bleu and Mary J. Blige, among many others. 

Leading the pack with six nominations is Doja Cat, who’s in the running for Best Female R&B/Pop Artist, Best Female Hip Hop Artist, Album of the Year for Planet Year, BET Her for “Woman,” Video of the Year and Best Collaboration for “Kiss Me More” featuring SZA.

Also up for Best Female R&B/Pop Artist and Video of the Year for “Pressure” is Ari Lennox, who nabbed four total nominations. Drake is also nominated for four awards, including Best Male Hip Hop Artist and Best Collaboration.

Tied for third most nominations is Baby Keem, Silk Sonic (Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak), Chlöe, Future, H.E.R., Jazmine Sullivan, Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, Lil Baby, Mary J. Blige and Tems.

In the non-music categories, King Richard, Summer of Soul and Respect are nominated for Best Movie, while Jennifer Hudson, Issa Rae, Quinta Brunson, Will Smith and Denzel Washington are up for Best Actress/Best Actor. 

The full list, which can be found on the BET Awards website, follows the announcement of Taraji P. Henson as this year’s host. Henson returns for another year after hosting the 2021 awards show, which she kicked off with a tribute to iconic Black women.

The 2022 BET Awards will air live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, Sunday, June 26, at 8 p.m. on BET.

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(SPOILERS) On Wednesday, the third episode of Obi-Wan Kenobi dropped on Disney+. Without giving too much away, it marks the first time Hayden Christensen and Ewan McGregor shared the screen since 2005’s Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. 

Series director Deborah Chow tells ABC Audio, “It was pretty special.”

Christensen reprises his role as Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, the fallen former student of McGregor’s titular Jedi hero.

“You know, it’s pretty amazing to have these two characters come back and especially to have the original actors playing them,” Chow says. “And also, you know … we’re playing characters that are so legendary, but we’re playing them at a different point in their lives.” 

The series takes place 10 years after the events of Episode III, which closes with a mortally wounded Vader being encased in his menacing black life support suit.

And while in 1977’s Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope Vader says he hasn’t faced Kenobi since he was “but the learner” — some seven years before the show takes place — the series’ third episode presents something different. 

And that’s the danger of dabbling in “canon,” or established lore, something Chow tells ABC Audio was the “biggest challenge” of Obi-Wan Kenobi.

” … obviously we do have these huge iconic characters and we’re in between two trilogies. So, you know, for us we were very much trying to respect the canon and, you know, not break anything. But at the same time, we also needed to tell a new story and tell something original. So it was really just kind of about trying to find that balance with the show.”  

Disney is the parent company of ABC News. 

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With hits like Top Gun: Maverick and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness raking in the dough in theaters, it’s safe to say movie fans are back after the dark days of the pandemic.

With that in mind, Fandango polled 2,500 U.S. moviegoers about the second-biggest attraction at their local theaters: the concession stand.

Eighty-three percent of those polled say movie theater popcorn just tastes better than eating it at home, according to the company’s Concession Confessions Survey. In fact, 76% say they usually only eat popcorn at the movies.

And apparently, they can’t get enough: 66% of respondents say they order large or extra large sizes of popcorn every time — and 47% wish there was a “bottomless bucket” option at their local theater.

However, sometimes popcorn just isn’t enough: Nearly half of those polled mix in concession candy with their popcorn, with moviegoers confessing to dumping everything from M&M’s, Reese’s Pieces and Raisinets to Goobers and Milk Duds into their buckets or bags.

And while everybody gripes about the prices at their concession stand, they’re not doing without: 47% say they’ll wait in line even if they’re late for their movie.

However, there could be drama ahead — even before you take your seat. A recent report in the Wall Street Journal noted that supply chain issues and other economic factors are making popcorn harder to come by. Suppliers have noted they’re paying more just to ensure farmers keep planting corn to pop.

Survey questions, methodology and results have not been verified or endorsed by ABC News or The Walt Disney Company.

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Obi-Wan Kenobi star Ewan McGregor has responded to trolls’ racist messages that were reportedly sent to his co-star Moses Ingram, who plays Jedi hunter Reva.

As reported, Ingram, who’s Black, posted some of the messages she’d received online, leading the franchise — and fans — to support her.

McGregor began his online message with a spot of good news, saying, “This weekend, Star Wars fans made Obi-Wan Kenobi the most-watched Disney+ premiere of all time. And for that, I would say a big thank you, and it just goes to show what this family can do when we all pull together.”

“However, it seems that some of the fan base…have decided to attack Moses Ingram online, and send her the most horrendous, racist DMs,” McGregor continued. “I heard some of them this morning and it just broke my heart.”

The actor added, “Moses is a brilliant actor, she’s a brilliant woman, and she’s absolutely amazing in this series. She brings so much to the series, she brings so much to the franchise, and it just sickened me to my stomach to hear that this had been happening.”

McGregor concluded, “I just wanted to say as the leading actor to the series and executive producer that we stand with Moses, we love Moses. If you’re sending her bullying messages, you are no Star Wars fan in my mind.”

For her part, Ingram had said, “I think the thing that bothers me … is…that feeling inside of myself … that I just have to…just grin and bear it.” She added defiantly, “But I’m not built like that.”

Moses also thanked fans who have shouted her out for her portrayal of Reva, declaring that it “means the world to me.”

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

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Lionsgate has tapped West Side Story actor Rachel Zegler to star in The Hunger Games prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. The prequel movie will reportedly focus on Coriolanus Snow at age 18, years before he would become the tyrannical President of Panem. As previously announced, Billy the Kid and The Gilded Age actor Tom Blyth will play the young Snow. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is due in theaters on Nov. 17, 2023…

Charles Siebert, the actor best known for playing the snooty Dr. Stanley Riverside II on all seven seasons of CBS’ MASH spinoff Trapper John, M.D., died May 1 of COVID-19-related pneumonia at University of California San Francisco Medical Center, his daughter, Gillian Bozanic, tells The Hollywood Reporter. He was 84. Siebert’s other TV roles included three guest-starring stints on All in the Family, and he appeared on other shows including Kojak, Police Woman, The Rockford Files, The Incredible Hulk, Maude, FBI and Murder, She Wrote. He also appeared in such films as The Other Side of Midnight, And Justice for All and Eight Men Out…

Kaley Cuoco, who stars and executive-produces the HBO Max series The Flight Attendant, warns fans not to get their hopes up for a third season. Following Thursday’s season two finale, Cuoco tells People that while there’s been interest in a third season, “I think for me, at this moment, the plane has landed.” However, the 36-year-old Big Bang Theory alum admits she “could possibly get back in it,” but “needs a minute.” “I think the writers and the team did a really beautiful job in tying it up in a pretty bow…But if you had to open the bow, it would be okay,” she adds…

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The new series Pistol, which debuted Tuesday on Hulu, is all about explosive rise and tragic fall of the Sex Pistols.

Based on founding member and guitarist, Steve Jones’ memoir, Lonely Boy: Tales from a Sex Pistol, the series follows “a band of spotty, noisy, working-class kids with ‘no future,’ who shook the boring, corrupt Establishment to its core, threatened to bring down the government and changed music and culture forever.”

The groundbreaking punk rock band — which also included vocalist John Lydon, a.k.a. Johnny Rotten, drummer Paul Cook and bassist Sid Vicious, who replaced original member Glen Matlock — was very close to director and executive producer Danny Boyle‘s heart, coming along at time when he felt all the anger and disenfranchisement the band was feeding off of.

Boyle tells ABC Audio that punk rock movement “changed so much of Britain, which desperately needed changing. And it sustained a value that surprised everyone because it looked completely self-destructive, that it was going to burn itself out in a very short period of time. But it didn’t.”

And while their musical talents may have been questionable, Boyle thinks it’s their message that lives on today.

“Everybody went on about that they couldn’t play. They could play,” he insists. “More important than whether they could play or they couldn’t play, whether they were qualified or not, was that they had something to say. And that’s all you need.”

Boyle notes that in a misogynistic world. punk music “allowed women to surface and to make a big contribution.” A prime example, he says, were fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, “Queen of Punk” Jordan and, of course, Pretenders front woman Chrissie Hynde, who, “went on to sell more records than all the rest of them put together.” 

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