Author Robbie Couch Talks New Novel 'Blaine for the Win,' a Queer Rom-Com Inspired by 'Legally Blonde' (Exclusive Interview)

“Crush” crucially moves past the coming out stage of queer life and into the part where those who have come out can be themselves. The co-writers, who both identify as queer, started working on the project after meeting at BuzzFeed in 2018 and starting a queer writers group. “We just felt there was a real gap in the culture for queer rom-coms that aren’t about coming out,” King told TheWrap.

WARNING: Spoilers ahead for Hulu’s new movie “Crush”Trying to figure out if you have real feelings for your childhood crush or her sister, can be hard. But such is the situation in Hulu’s new rom-com “Crush.” And for Auli’Cravalho, who stars as half — or rather, one third — of that love story, having queer writers was a huge factor in telling that story authentically.“Having queer writers, and a director, just allowed us to have this film that was so vibrant and funny,” Cravalho told TheWrap.

Tomris Laffly Curiously unadventurous for a sex-positive teen romantic comedy, Sammi Cohen’s “Crush” centers its premise on an age-old recipe: an emotionally bemused heroine desperately pursues her supposed soul mate, when her ultimate the one has been right under her nose all along.Still, predictability isn’t the real deficit of this well-meaning and progressive Hulu original that aims to land somewhere in the vicinity of “Some Kind of Wonderful” and “American Pie.” After all, some of the most timeless and irresistible romances stem from tales we’ve all heard a million times before. What’s jarring in “Crush” is the absence of some requisite dose of youthful mischief, a sense of stakes and perhaps even a lightly scandalous touch, integral to the spirit of many of the genre staples Cohen and co-writers Kirsten King and Casey Rackham attempt to revive on their own terms.

J. Kim Murphy One week ago, NBA legend and Los Angeles Lakers icon Jerry West employed his legal representation to send a letter to HBO, Warner Bros. Discovery and Adam McKay demanding a legal retraction for his portrayal on HBO’s “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty.” The correspondence included testimony by former members of the Lakers organization, including retired ballplayer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, to reinforce its argument of the show creating “a deliberately false characterization.” Weeks before, Earvin “Magic” Johnson himself voiced his criticism of the series to Variety, saying “You can’t do a story about the Lakers without the Lakers… the real Lakers.”Author Jeff Pearlman, whose book “Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s” has been adapted to the HBO series, gets where they’re coming from.

070 Shake has announced her second studio album, ‘You Can’t Kill Me’ – listen to the lead single ‘Skin And Bones’ below.The New Jersey rapper/singer released her first record, ‘Modus Vivendi’, in early 2020. Featuring the single ‘Guilty Conscience’, it went on to appear in NME‘s 20 best debut albums list of that year.It’s now been confirmed that the second full-length from 070 Shake – real name Danielle Balbuena – will arrive this spring via G.O.O.D.

EXCLUSIVE: HBO’s The Gilded Age is adding two more Tony winners to its cast for Season 2. Laura Benanti and Robert Sean Leonard are set to recur on the period drama, created, written and executive produced by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes.

Martin Lewis has issued a warning to those with money in a savings account to "check it now." He's urged people to see if they're being underpaid, and encouraged people to check savings pots to make sure you're getting the best value for your money.The Money Saving Expert is known for his savvy saving hacks and in recent updates he said those with savings pot, big or small, need to review.Top savings rates have jumped to their highest levels since July 2019 and Martin said that if your savings rates are less than 1.5 per cent you're being underpaid. Get exclusive celebrity stories and fabulous photoshoots straight to your inbox with OK!'s daily newsletter He said: "Don't stand for it.The minimum savings should pay is 1.5% - as that's what you can get in the top easy-access account.

Roy Trakin It’s a good bet that Cypress Hill co-founder and multi-dispensary owner B-Real (Louis Freese) might be celebrating the unofficial national hemp holiday 4/20 even without a full plate of projects. But you could say his bong is overflowing.Tonight, Showtime will premiere the group’s feature-length documentary, “Insane in the Brain,” while the seminal rapper will be spending the day visiting several of his six Dr.

Nia DaCosta (Candyman) has been tapped to direct an adaptation of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ 2019 debut novel The Water Dancer for MGM, Plan B, Harpo Films and Maceo-Lyn.

Deftones have officially unveiled their new touring line-up, with bassist Fred Sablan making his debut on the first night of the band’s long-awaited North American tour with Gojira.Sablan, who is best known as the former bassist for Marilyn Manson, kicked off his tenure with Chino Moreno and co. at the band’s Portland show at the Moda Center on Thursday night (April 14).It comes after Vega announced last month that he had officially left Deftones.

When Jane Campion returned with 2021’s Oscar-nominated “The Power Of The Dog,” there was much talk about the New Zealand filmmaker’s return and her 12-year absence from feature filmmaking. However, often missing in that narrative was the fact that Campion never went anywhere.

Kaley Cuoco’s life and career are still just taking off.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorKaley Cuoco has had enough of working with herself.In Season 2 of “The Flight Attendant,” she returns to the HBO Max series as Cassie Bowden. Newly sober, she’s still a flight attendant, but has a side job working for the CIA. Throughout the season, Cassie encounters numerous clones of herself.“Our team had many meetings with the team behind ‘Orphan Black’ because we did the same sort of thing,” Cuoco told me on Tuesday night at “The Flight Attendant” premiere at the Pacific Design Center.

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Whenever a group of A-list stars get together for an intimate event or dinner, photos tend to circulate fast online.

Jussie Smollett has shared a new track that touches upon his recent high-profile court case – listen to ‘Thank You God’ below.The Empire actor was sentenced to 150 days in prison last month after being found guilty on five counts of disorderly conduct pertaining to a police report he filed on January 29, 2019 in which he claimed he was the victim of a racist and homophobic attack in Chicago.Following his sentencing, Smollett’s lawyers launched an appeal and he was released from Cook County jail on March 16 after signing a $150,000 (£114,000) personal recognisance bond, which doesn’t require him to pay any money if he appears in court for future proceedings.On Friday (April 8), the Empire actor shared a new single called ‘Thank You God’, a shiny R&B number that references his December court case.“It’s like they’re hell-bent on not solving the crime/ Taking out the elements of race and trans and homophobia that’s straight taking lives/ But turn around and act like I’m the one that killed the strides,” Smollett raps on the track.Later, he adds: “I can’t be mad/ Take my ego out/ Some people searching for fame/ Some people chasing that clout/ Just remember this, this ain’t that situation/ You think I’m stupid enough to kill my reputation?”You can listen to ‘Thank You God’ below:Smollett has dedicated ‘Thank You God’ to “the people who kept it real”, and he’s donating all profits from the track to social justice organisations Rainbow Push Coalition, Secure The Bag Safety, and Illinois Innocence Project.During Smollett’s trial in December last year, brothers Amimbola and Olabingo Osundairo testified that the actor had recruited them to help him stage an attack in an effort to boost the actor’s publicity, and were paid $3,500