Kate Aurthur Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Kate Aurthur editor With the one-year anniversary of Dobbs v. Jackson approaching on June 24, the Showrunners for Abortion Rights — the coalition of showrunners, TV creators and directors that formed in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn of Roe v. Wade — has reemerged with a report card that gives an update on their work with the studios. The chart reveals how the 10 major Hollywood studios have responded to the group’s demands for abortion safety protocols for productions in states where abortion has been banned and criminalized. A second slide evaluates the effectiveness of the reproductive health and safety hotlines that was one of the group’s suggestions. The report — displayed here, along with a new statement from the coalition — reveals mixed results. Several studios, with Paramount/CBS leading the charge, have made strides in protecting the safety of pregnant workers over the past 10 months since this work began. Others have made incremental changes, and are working toward doing more. With lives potentially at stake, though, the coaliation would like the studios to move more quickly.

Selena Kuznikov The documentary “Outstanding: A Comedy Revolution” is set to premiere globally on June 18 on Netflix. The feature-length documentary, the first of its kind to address this topic, examines the history of queer stand-up comedy as — according to its logline — “an instrument for social change over the past five decades, actively reflecting and challenging cultural norms and values.” The film combines stand-up performances and talking head interviews, as well as archival materials featuring LGBTQ+ comedians, and includes Lily Tomlin, Sandra Bernhard, Wanda Sykes, Suzy Izzard, Hannah Gadsby, Tig Notaro, Rosie O’Donnell, Margaret Cho, Bob The Drag Queen and Trixie Mattel.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events Zendaya claims she, too, is unaware of when “Euphoria” Season 3 will begin production. Although the “Euphoria” star is an executive producer of the hit HBO series, she said she’s “not in charge” of whether or not the third season will really happen. But of course Zendaya wants to play Rue again.

Kate Aurthur administrator Sylvester Stallone has been accused of creating a “toxic environment” on the Atlanta set of the Paramount+ drama series “Tulsa King” by making disparaging comments about background actors, among other allegations. Rose Locke, a casting director on “Tulsa King,” is said to have quit the series. Representatives for Stallone did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Kate Aurthur administrator Gladiators, suit up: The “Scandal” rewatch podcast, “Unpacking the Toolbox,” is set to return with new episodes on April 11. “Unpacking the Toolbox” is hosted by former “Scandal” stars Katie Lowes (who played Quinn) and Guillermo Diaz (who played Huck) — their IRL friendship was forged on set, and fans nicknamed their twisted on-screen partnership Huckleberry Quinn. Part of the iHeartPodcasts network, the Shondaland Audio series “Unpacking the Toolbox” — a reference to Huck’s torture kit — hit pause during the SAG-AFTRA strike, having covered the first two seasons of Shonda Rhimes’ ABC drama, which ran for seven seasons from 2012 through 2018.

Kate Aurthur administrator Following Bravo‘s reboot of “The Real Housewives of New York City” last year, the network has announced that all six cast members are set to return for its upcoming Season 15. Yes, that includes even the ostensibly elusive, seemingly reluctant Jenna Lyons, who came into the show’s 14th season as the cast’s only famous person, and revealed herself over the course of the show to be a shy, charming oddball — and who, since the season premiered in July of last year, has been the subject of endless rumors speculating that she would not care to repeat the experience.

Kate Aurthur administrator On Feb. 29, ex-“Vanderpump Rules” star Rachel Leviss filed an explosive lawsuit against her former castmates Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix for eavesdropping, revenge porn, invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Kate Aurthur administrator Looks like the internet won’t have Che Diaz to kick around anymore. According to multiple sources, Sara Ramírez won’t be returning to “And Just Like That” for its third season, which starts production later this year for a 2025 premiere on Max. Ramírez has played nonbinary standup comedian Che Diaz since Season 1, during which the character became a meme-generating object of mockery.

Kate Aurthur administrator SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers from “Part 6,” the season finale of HBO’s “True Detective: Night Country,” now streaming on Max. After flirting with the supernatural all season, the finale of “True Detective: Night Country” revealed that the show’s killers were very much real human beings. And the two women at the center of creator Issa López’s story — the true detectives Liz Danvers (Jodie Foster) and Evangeline Navarro (Kali Reis) — not only solve the mystery of what happened in their town of Ennis, Alaska, but each arrive at a place of personal peace.After the individual torments that plagued them throughout the six-episode series, Navarro and Danvers find, according to López, a “love, the non-romantic love” that heals both of them, and resets them so they can go on — even if Navarro’s fate is somewhat nebulous.

Kate Aurthur administrator Porsha Williams Guobadia — who is now going by her married name — will return to “The Real Housewives of Atlanta,” Bravo announced Tuesday, in the first cast announcement of what will be the show’s rebooted Season 16. Williams Guobadia, always a fan favorite, was on “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” from Seasons 5-13, and, in a rare voluntary departure for the franchise, left the show in September 2021. In an interview with Variety a few months after that, she spoke of her then-upcoming marriage to Simon Guobadia, and said she wanted to spend as much time as she could with her young daughter, Pilar.

Kate Aurthur administrator When “Grey’s Anatomy” viewers last saw Jessica Capshaw as Arizona Robbins — at the end of the ABC drama’s 14th season — she was moving to New York City so her daughter Sofia could be with both of her parents. But at the Television Critics Association Press Tour in Pasadena on Saturday, ABC announced that Capshaw will be among the show’s Season 20 guest stars and will appear on one episode.

Kate Aurthur administrator SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers from “Part 5,” the fifth episode of HBO’s “True Detective: Night Country,” now streaming on Max. Poor, wrong-headed Hank — with his broken “90 Day Fiancé” heart, and his thwarted dreams of being police chief — is dead. And by the hand of his son, Peter, no less. At the end of “Part 5″ — the penultimate episode of creator Issa López’s “True Detective: Night Country” — investigators Liz Danvers (Jodie Foster) and Evangeline Navarro (Kali Reis) are about to defy direct orders.

Kate Aurthur administrator Carrie Coon — star of HBO’s “The Gilded Age” and “The Leftovers” — has joined the growing Season 3 cast of Mike White’s “The White Lotus,” HBO has announced. Earlier this week, the Emmy-winning HBO series added Parker Posey, Jason Isaacs, Leslie Bibb, Dom Hetrakul, Michelle Monaghan and Tayme Thapthimthong. The whole gang joins Natasha Rothwell, whom Variety exclusively reported would reprise the role of Belinda in Season 3 back in April 2023.

Kate Aurthur administrator Steve Burton will return to “General Hospital” after having been fired in November 2021 because of his refusal to get the COVID vaccine. At the time, Burton was one of two actors on the long-running ABC soap opera who refused to be vaccinated; Ingo Rademacher was also fired.

Variety enlisted some of the team’s biggest unscripted TV fans to round up some of the wildest moments of the year. Note: These are not ranked, as it’s a bit subjective to pick which is the most unhinged.

William Earl Variety will host the first-ever Women of Reality TV Dinner, presented by DIRECTV, on Nov. 29 in Los Angeles, honoring the successful reality TV genre and its stars.

Kate Aurthur administrator Earlier on Friday, Bravo announced from BravoCon that Season 11 of “Vanderpump Rules” will premiere in January. That raises a big question: After a 10th season that concluded in June, during which the show became a ratings smash, a pop culture sensation and an eventual Emmy nominee — all because of the cheating scandal within the show that captured the nation’s fickle attention — where will the Bravo series go after the #Scandoval? One place it seemingly won’t be going, at least as far as the BravoCon audience was concerned, is redemption for cast member Tom Sandoval, who last year had an affair with his former castmate Rachel Leviss — thereby blowing up his relationship with his longtime girlfriend, Ariana Madix.

Kate Aurthur administrator Ramona Singer, late of Bravo‘s “The Real Housewives of New York City,” who will soon be seen on Peacock’s “Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: RHONY Legacy,” will no longer be attending BravoCon as of Tuesday afternoon — after she used a racial slur in a text exchange with a Page Six reporter. The reporter was asking Singer about an allegation made in Vanity Fair’s recent investigative story about Bravo and “The Real Housewives” franchise — an assertion that Singer had used the N-word in front of a “RHONY” crew member, which caused an investigation. In the text with Page Six, screenshotted in the story, Singer denied she’d said the N-word, but then abbreviated it.

Kate Aurthur administrator People of Bravo, if you can’t get to this year’s BravoCon — which will be at Caesars Forum in Las Vegas from Nov. 3 through Nov.

Kate Aurthur editor Season 3 of Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” ended with the show’s cast reeling from the news that their frenemy Jen Shah had pleaded guilty to the fraud charges she’d spent nearly two seasons screamingly saying she was innocent of. Months after those scenes were filmed, in federal court on Jan.

Kate Aurthur editor Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning director Liz Garbus is doing a three-part Netflix docuseries about the serial killings of Gilgo Beach on Long Island, for which Rex Heuermann of Massapequa Park was arrested in July. Between 10 and 16 women were killed on Long Island in the ’90s and 2000s, with many of their remains being found on Gilgo Beach, but it was thought to be a cold case until Heuermann was arrested and charged with three of the murders. He has pleaded not guilty.

Variety Staff Follow Us on Twitter Daniel D’Addario is stepping into a new role at Variety. The journalist, who was brought on as chief television critic in 2018, has been named chief correspondent for the magazine, co-editors-in-chief Ramin Setoodeh and Cynthia Littleton announced.

Kate Aurthur editor SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers from “With Open Eyes,” the series finale of HBO’s “Succession,” now streaming on Max — and if you haven’t watched it, for God’s sake, please go do that. Sarah Snook didn’t know that “Succession” was ending until she read the script for the Season 4 finale: She was on her way to the show’s last table read of the season when she figured it out. “I was quickly devouring it in the car on the way there,” Snook said during a pre-strike interview for the Aug.

Kate Aurthur editor A Reddit post from last year about the political donations of “The Real Housewives of New York City” has resurfaced in recent days, in which a TikTok creator said that new “RHONY” cast member Erin Lichy donated to Donald Trump’s Stop the Steal campaign. The thread has newly gone viral, causing an excavation into Lichy’s politics and political leanings. A search of the Federal Election Commission database reveals that in the wake of the Nov.

Variety Staff Follow Us on Twitter Aramide A. Tinubu is Variety’s new TV critic, joining fellow critic Alison Herman, who started at the publication in April. In her role, Tinubu, who is based in New York City, will write reviews, commentary and cover stories, and will be a key voice in television coverage across all of Variety’s platforms. She will work with editor-at-large Kate Aurthur, who oversees TV criticism and features. As a critic, consultant, producer and entertainment editor, Tinubu has been published in Essence, The Hollywood Reporter, IndieWire, Bustle and Netflix’s Tudum. “We are so excited to have Aramide join our team as a TV critic,” say Variety co-editors-in-chief Cynthia Littleton and Ramin Setoodeh. “Criticism has always been a backbone of our coverage, and we know that Aramide’s byline — and point of view — will further bolster our team.”

Kate Aurthur editor A “Vanderpump Rules” spinoff revolving around Jax Taylor, Brittany Cartwright and Kristen Doute — all of whom were fired from the flagship show in 2020 — is in the works at Bravo, Variety has confirmed. The show would follow the lives of them and their circle of friends in the Valley, and is in early stages of development. None of the main cast has signed yet, but the new series is from a pitch by “Vanderpump Rules” executive producer Alex Baskin. With Season 11 on the #Scandoval-fueled “Vanderpump Rules” beginning production today, this new series appears to answer the question in the negative about whether Taylor and Doute, who are original cast members from the show, will be returning. Instead, the three of them, along with new cast members, will be getting their own show. Stassi Schroeder, who also was ousted from “Vanderpump Rules” in 2020, will not be a part of the spinoff.

Kate Aurthur editor SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers from the first two episodes of Season 2 of “And Just Like That,” now streaming on Max. When it came to making the second season of “And Just Like That” — Max’s popular revival of HBO’s iconic “Sex and the City” — showrunner Michael Patrick King found that he simply couldn’t fit what he and the writers had planned into the standard 10-episode season Max was expecting. After all, “Sex and the City” stars Sarah Jessica Parker (Carrie), Cynthia Nixon (Miranda) and Charlotte (Kristin Davis) had been joined by four new main characters, played by Nicole Ari Parker (Lisa Todd Wexley), Karen Pittman (Nya), Sara Ramírez (Che Diaz) and Sarita Choudhury (Seema). King knew he wanted to build on those characters, and integrate them more deeply into the story in order to smooth some of the bumpiness of Season 1.

Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Garcelle Beauvais has said the new season of the Bravo reality series will drop in November — and will be a kinder edition of the franchise. “I’m hearing November is our release date. It’s back to fun and glamour and friendships,” said Beauvais of Season 13. “It’s not as toxic as it was. I think the last season was pretty hardcore on everybody.” Season 12 has been described by Variety’s resident “Real Housewives” correspondent Kate Aurthur as “grisly,” and ultimately led to the departure of long-time provocateur Lisa Rinna this past January. Rinna constantly stirred the pot on the show, and feuded heavily with Kathy Hilton. She also got into her share of spats with Beauvais, who had been friendly with Rinna, a fellow actor, prior to starring together on “Real Housewives.”

Kate Aurthur editor SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers from “With Open Eyes,” the series finale of HBO’s “Succession,” now streaming on Max. During their cover story for Variety’s Actors on Actors, Claire Danes — who’s starred in a number of TV shows, including “Homeland” and FX’s recent limited series “Fleishman Is in Trouble” — asked Kieran Culkin whether he’d ever done episodic television before “Succession.” The answer, even though Culkin has been acting since he was a child, was no. Danes laughed, and said, “So you just thought, ‘No, I’m just going to do the best one, and start right there.’”

Saying goodbye? Raquel Leviss revealed that she may not return to film season 11 of Vanderpump Rules after the fallout of her cheating scandal with Tom Sandoval.

Kate Aurthur editor “Vanderpump Rules” viewers did not dip out of the Season 10 finale: The ratings for the May 17 episode hit series highs for the Bravo show. The episode, which showed the fallout of the #Scandoval, drew a combined audience of 4.1 million viewers on Bravo, on-demand and the Peacock platform within three days. Of that viewership, 2.4 million were in Bravo’s target audience of 18-to-49 year-olds, reaching another series high. Those “Vanderpump Rules” ratings also buoyed those for Andy Cohen’s Bravo talk show “Watch What Happens Live,” which featured the first post-#Scandoval interview with “Vanderpump Rules” star Ariana Madix. In delayed viewing, an audience of 2.2 million total viewers across platforms tuned in to see Madix.

Kate Aurthur editor On June 1, Adam McKay and his company Hyperobject Industries and Sony Music Entertainment will release “Death on the Lot,” an eight-episode podcast telling the stories of the deaths of James Dean, Hattie McDaniel, John Garfield and other notable Hollywood figures who died prematurely in the 1950s. Variety can exclusively unveil the trailer for “Death on the Lot,” which was developed by and hosted by McKay. In an interview that took place before the writers strike, McKay said the project grew out of his 2021 podcast “Death at the Wing,” which examined the untimely deaths of basketball players in the 1980s, putting them in the context of the sociopolitical climate at the time.  “All during the making of ‘Death at the Wing,’ we kept saying the only other comparison we can think of is Hollywood after World War II,” McKay said. “Then we thought, ‘Well, let’s do a season about that, and see what we can uncover.’ And if possible, it was even richer and deeper, and more to the core of the American story than we anticipated.”

Kate Aurthur editor HBO Max has dropped the Season 2 teaser for “And Just Like That,” its successful revival of “Sex and the City.” The company also announced the show will premiere in June, without announcing the specific date yet — at that point, the streamer will simply be known as Max. The teaser, narrated by Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), begins with a very “Sex and the City” sentiment: “No matter what life hands you, you can always count on your closest friends to be there.” We then see a montage of scenes, that reveal the current relationships of Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) and Che (Sara Ramírez) and Carrie and her podcast producer, Franklin (Ivan Hernandez). “It’s just sex!” Carrie says.

McKinley Franklin editor Lisa Vanderpump, Bravo personality, restauranteur and branding mogul, labeled the “Vanderpump Rules” infidelity scandal, “a producer’s dream, but talent’s nightmare.”  When speaking with editor at large Kate Aurthur at Variety’s 2023 Entertainment Marketing Summit, Vanderpump revealed just how “gobsmacked” and “shattered” she was when the cheating scandal — aka the Scandoval — broke out between her cast members on the reality show, which she executively produces. “I was basically having a bloody heart attack,” Vanderpump told Aurthur.

Variety Staff Follow Us on Twitter Alison Herman is Variety’s new TV critic, joining chief TV critic Daniel D’Addario. In the role, Herman will be a key voice in television criticism, writing reviews, commentary, appreciations and cover stories across all of Variety’s platforms. She will work with editor-at-large Kate Aurthur, who oversees the publication’s TV criticism and features. Herman was a staff writer at The Ringer from 2016 to 2023, where she covered television and popular culture. During her tenure, she wrote columns on new shows, profiled performers such as John Mulaney and reported the definitive piece on the aesthetics of “Succession.” “TV criticism is one of the bedrocks of Variety, as the No. 1 brand covering the business of entertainment,” co-Editors-in-Chief Cynthia Littleton and Ramin Setoodeh say. “Alison’s deep knowledge of television and pop culture make her the perfect addition to our team.”

Kate Aurthur editor SPOILER ALERT: This interview discusses gargantuan plot developments in “Connor’s Wedding,” Season 4, Episode 3 of “Succession,” now streaming on HBO Max. Many devotees of “Succession” assumed that sometime during its final season, the show’s patriarch Logan Roy — a businessman of unparalleled brilliance, and a churlish father, who loves his children (despite all evidence to the contrary) — would die. After all, Logan, played by Brian Cox, had a stroke in the 2018 series premiere of HBO’s Emmy-winning drama, and his ill-health has been an ongoing concern. But Logan dying in Episode 3?! A total shock to “Succession” nation.