Katie Reul Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Katie Reul editor Steve Nissen, who previously served as senior vice president of legal and government affairs at NBCUniversal, is set to take over as president and CEO of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce (HCC). Nissen will begin serving in the new position effective March 20, taking the reigns from David Michael Jerome. The ex-CEO left the role in December 2022 due to “family reasons,” prompting a nationwide search for his successor, led by Berkhemer Clayton, Inc. “Steve Nissen’s visionary leadership and extensive expertise in various facets of the business world, combined with his deep understanding of the Hollywood community, have made him the ideal candidate to lead the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce,” said Lupita Sanchez Cornejo, chairperson of the board at HCC. “As a native of Hollywood, Nissen brings a unique perspective and a personal connection to the community.”

Katie Reul editor Marvel is diving back into the multiverse with “What If…?” Season 2, which is scheduled to premiere on Disney+ on Dec. 22 with a new episode airing each day for nine days.

Katie Reul editor Netflix has revealed the first official trailer for “Maestro,” Bradley Cooper’s second directorial effort that sees the actor star as conductor Leonard Bernstein. The biographical romance, which Cooper also co-wrote and produced, chronicles the life of the acclaimed conductor and composer with a focus on his tumultuous 25-year marriage to Felicia Montealegre. Co-starring opposite Cooper is “She Said” actor Carey Mulligan as Montealegre.

Katie Reul editor Tom Hiddleston is back and ready for more mayhem in the official trailer for Season 2 of the Disney+ original series “Loki.” The trailer sees Hiddleston reprising his titular role as the god of mischief, sharing the screen with returning actor Owen Wilson and new cast member Ke Huy Quan. Set after the events of “Avengers: Endgame,” the series will continue to follow the antihero as he works with the Time Variance Authority to track down superhero variants stoking chaos in different timelines of the multiverse. Wilson reprises the role of Mobius M.

Katie Reul editor The official trailer for Sony’s “Dumb Money” has dropped, shedding light on how a group of amateur investors artificially increased the stock value of GameStop, the popular video game retailer. The short squeeze occurred in January 2021 after Reddit users on a page called “Wall Street Bets” united to catalyze a market explosion. As a result, significant hedge funds and independent short sellers incurred devastating financial loss. Based on author Ben Mezrich’s “The Antisocial Network,” “Dumb Money” similarly centers around the Reddit users behind the phenomenon with actors Seth Rogen, Paul Dano, Sebastian Stan and Pete Davidson in lead roles.

Katie Reul editor A brand new trailer for “Oppenheimer,” the upcoming film from director Christopher Nolan, was released Monday by Universal Pictures in anticipation of the feature’s July debut. Set to a dramatic score from Ludwig Göransson, the newly-dropped teaser offers closer looks at the key players of the Manhattan Project, as portrayed by a star-studded cast including Cillian Murphy, Florence Pugh, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Leslie Groves Jr. and Tom Conti, who appears briefly as a somber looking Albert Einstein. “Oppenheimer” centers around the legacy of J. Robert Oppenheimer (Murphy), who is credited as the inventor of the atomic bomb. Based on the biographical novel “American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer,” the film follows the physicist as he works alongside a team of government scientists to develop nuclear weapons in the early 1940s.

Katie Reul editor In the final moments of this week’s “Weekend Update” segment on “Saturday Night Live,” co-anchor Michael Che used the sketch show’s platform to address recent legislation in Republican-dominated states like Florida, Kansas and Missouri, which would heavily restrict gender-affirming healthcare for transgender kids. “Since the start of this year, over 400 anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced across the country, many of which directly target trans youth,” Che said, taking on a more serious tone. “Here to talk about it is someone with their own introduction.” “Introducing ‘SNL’s’ first non-binary cast-member,’ a disembodied voice foreshadowed as featured player Molly Kearney was lowered from the ceiling on ropes, clad in a vibrant purple jumpsuit. “This harness is pretty tight and my groin area is beefed,” Kearney joked about the strappy contraption. “I have been hung up on my genitals for far too long, and I’m starting to feel like a freaking Republican lawmaker.”

Katie Reul editor Ana de Armas paid homage to her Cuban roots during her “Saturday Night Live” hosting debut on Saturday. As the “Blonde” star emerged on stage for her monologue, she greeted the audience in Spanish, before opening up about her experience coming to the United States. “Gracias, gracias,” De Armas said in response to a roar of applause. “He tenido un año increíble y estoy muy feliz de estar aquí presentando el programa de esta noche.” (“Thank you, thank you; I’ve had an incredible year and I’m very happy to be here hosting the show tonight.”) “I speak English,” De Armas continued, “But I didn’t when I first got to the U.S. I was born in Cuba. I came to America when I was 26, and I learned English the way everyone who comes to this country does: by watching ‘Friends.'”

Katie Reul editor Brie Larson is back in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for “The Marvels,” the sequel to 2019’s “Captain Marvel.” This time, Larson shares the spotlight with fellow female MCU stars Teyonah Parris from “WandaVision” and Iman Vellani from “Ms. Marvel.” The anticipated follow-up to Carol Danvers’ origin story takes place after the Disney+ series “Ms. Marvel,” which introduced Vellani as Kamala Khan, a.k.a. the young, New Jersey superhero Ms. Marvel. Prior to the first “The Marvels'” trailer release, the first look at the film was shown exclusively to panel attendees at the 2022 D23 Expo. The initial footage offers insight into the aftermath of the “Ms. Marvel” post-credits scene, where Kamala seemingly swapped places with Carol. “The Marvels” teaser picked up shortly thereafter, with Captain Monica Rambeau (Parris) working as an astronaut for Saber Space Station alongside Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). When Monica hits a jump point in the space continuum, she morphs into Ms. Marvel, confirming she, Carol and Kamala share a unique set of transformative powers.

Katie Reul editor The latest episode of “Saturday Night Live” was a nostalgic throwback for Molly Shannon, a former “SNL” cast member who returned to Studio 8H for her second time hosting. Shannon spent six seasons as a repertory player on the NBC sketch show, during which she received an Emmy nomination for outstanding individual performance in a variety program. Most recently, the actor starred in director Zach Braff’s “A Good Person,” which released in theaters Mar. 24. She will also appear in Season 3 of “The Other Two,” which premieres May 4 on HBO Max. Shannon is best known among “Saturday Night Live” enthusiasts for playing a recurring character named Mary Katherine Gallagher, a Catholic school girl with bizarre habits — most notably, sticking her hands under her armpits and smelling them. In 1999, Shannon starred as the character in a feature film with fellow “SNL” co-star Will Ferrell.

Katie Reul editor Premiering the night before Easter, the latest episode of “Saturday Night Live” opened with a serene image of the sketch show cast members sitting at a long table, perfectly costumed and positioned to parallel Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper.” But the tranquility was short-lived with the arrival of cast member James Austin Johnson, who took over the cold open by telling the story of Easter as a monologue delivered by Donald Trump. Last week’s episode also opened with a Trump spoof after the former president was indicted by a grand jury. On April 4, Trump pled not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records. His arrest and arraignment made him the first president in U.S. history to ever be charged with a crime after leaving office. And this milestone was also addressed with this week’s cold open.

Katie Reul editor Michael Che, co-anchor of “Weekend Update,” played a prank on fellow host Colin Jost on the April Fool’s day episode of “Saturday Night Live.” The segment kicked off as normal, with Jost delivering piercing commentary about former president Donald Trump’s indictment by a grand jury on Mar. 30. But as Jost levied each jab, his jokes were received with timid chuckles. After Jost concluded his portion of the banter, Che made another joke about the ex-president that resulted in uproarious laughter. Dismayed but not deterred, Jost pressed on with another joke. Following the punchline, an audience member shouted, “You stink!” which caused Jost’s head to immediately fall into his hands. No longer able to keep it together, Che erupted into laughter alongside the viewers, explaining to Jost he told the audience not to laugh at him as an April Fool’s Day prank.

Katie Reul editor Class is back in session with “Abbott Elementary” creator and star Quinta Brunson, whose April 1 hosting debut on “Saturday Night Live” featured a comedic lesson on why she and her character, Janine Teagues, are actually nothing alike. “I love that people are enjoying ‘Abbott,’ but I wish that they didn’t expect me to be exactly like my character all the time in public. Janine Teagues is a second grade teacher who is caring and wholesome, but I’m the opposite. I mean, I’m not a filthy whore but I like to have fun,” Brunson joked. For viewers not familiar with Brunson, the actor provided a biting description of her acclaimed mockumentary series that caused an eruption of laughter among the crowd: “It’s a network sitcom, like ‘Friends,’ but instead of being about a group of friends it’s about a group of teachers, instead of New York it’s Philadelphia and instead of not having Black people, it does.”

Katie Reul editor “Dear Coach Stringer,” a 30-minute documentary centered around the career of women’s basketball hall of famer C. Vivian Stringer, is coming to CBS and Paramount+ Mar. 25 at 2:30 p.m. ET/11:30 a.m. PT. In 2009, Stringer was also inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The seasoned coach is best known for leading the female ballers of Cheyney State to the NCAA Women’s Final Four — the first and only historically Black college to do so. Stringer went on to coach two other teams to the NCAA Women’s Final Four: Rutgers University in 2000 and 2007 as well as the University of Iowa in 1993. Produced by Coaches+ Media, “Dear Coach Stringer” chronicles the team’s groundbreaking victory during the 1981-1982 season and highlights Stringer’s legacy through interviews with family, friends, former players and other coaches.

Katie Reul editor RLJE Films has acquired the North America, U.K., Ireland, Australia and New Zealand rights to “Sympathy for the Devil,” an upcoming psychological thriller starring Nicolas Cage (“Mandy”) and Joel Kinnaman (“The Suicide Squad” film series). An agreement was reached between RLJE Films chief acquisitions officer Mark Ward and Christian Mercuri’s Capstone Global, an international company in charge of the feature’s global sales. “This is our eighth collaboration with Nicolas Cage, which includes ‘Mandy’ — a critically-acclaimed film that has a huge cult following,” Ward said. “Once again, he doesn’t disappoint. In this film, Cage and Joel Kinnaman bring to life a suspenseful tale on screen that will keep audiences guessing.”

Katie Reul editor Frieda Pinto, Sharon Stone and Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences President Janet Yang.are among a line-up of female luminaries set to be honored at this year’s New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) Muse Awards. “What better way to celebrate Women’s History Month than to return to celebrate this incredible roster of women that are reinventing how media is made,” said NYWIFT CEO Cynthia Lopez. “They are influencers on screen, behind the camera, in the newsroom, and in the executive suite.” In addition, Danielle Brooks, best known for recurring roles in “Orange Is the New Black” and “Peacemaker,” will receive the “Made in NY” Award, recognition of her portrayal of resilient characters who promote body positivity. Most recently, the actor-producer starred in a remake of “The Color Purple,” which is scheduled for a December 2023 release. The “Made in NY” Award will be presented to Brooks by the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment.

Katie Reul editor “The Disappearance of Mrs. Wu,” a multi-generational comedy starring “Crazy Rich Asians” actor Lisa Lu, is set for a March 17 premiere at the Laemmle Theater in North Hollywood, following the film’s acquisition by Picturehouse. The coming-of-age story will then have a one-week theatrical run. Reflective of the feature’s expansive crew of female filmmakers, “The Disappearance of Mrs. Wu” is centered around the challenges of mother-daughter relationships. The film follows Emma (Rochelle Ying), an introverted teenager, on a road-trip up the California coast after her grandmother, Lily (Lu), asks for help breaking out of her nursing home. Along the way, Emma begins to obtain a better understanding of her immigrant mother and their complicated relationship.

Katie Reul editor Winning best picture at the Academy Awards, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” capped off a ground-breaking awards season and became the most-awarded best picture winner since 2008’s “Slumdog Millionaire.” “Everything Everywhere” took home seven Oscars on Sunday night, including best picture, director, original screenplay, lead actress, supporting actress, supporting actor and editing. At the 2009 Oscars, Danny Boyle’s “Slumdog Millionaire” scored eight awards, including best picture, director, adapted screenplay, cinematography, editing, score, original song and sound mixing. Before “Everything Everywhere,” the closest a best picture winner has gotten to topping that number was the 2010 ceremony, when “The Hurt Locker” won six Oscars.

Katie Reul editor Quinta Brunson, the Emmy award-winning creator and star of “Abbott Elementary,” will transition from a classroom to a live studio audience with her hosting debut on “Saturday Night Live” on April 1. Lil Yachty has been named as the episode’s musical guest. Brunson’s first appearance on the show could coincide with the a potential strike set by the show’s post-production editors. The strike comes after calls for NBCUniversal to pay editors industry standard rates and provide appropriate health benefits. The editing crew organized with the Motion Picture Editors Guild, which is part of IATSE Local 700, in order to negotiate a contract with NBCUniversal in October of last year. An agreement has yet to be reached. Now, the post-production team of “SNL” has set a deadline of April 1 for an agreement to be reached, at which point they will boycott working on the show.

Katie Reul editor The latest episode of “Saturday Night Live” opened with Marcello Hernandez and Heidi Gardner masquerading as two reporters from Access Hollywood stationed at the 2023 Oscars red carpet. The two recounted the miserable circumstances they’ve endured throughout the day — from limited bathroom breaks to long lines outside of the Dolby Theatre — before Hernandez chimed in, “But it’s all worth it to ask Angela Bassett if she really did the thing.” The comment was aimed at “Westside Story” star Ariana DeBose, who celebrated leading and supporting actress nominees at the 2023 BAFTA awards with a now-viral rap. But the jokes didn’t stop there; Gardner proceeded to levy jabs at the Academy, satirizing the award show’s implementation of revised security protocol following last year’s ceremony.

Katie Reul editor Nick Offerman plays a food-obsessed neo-Nazi in an upcoming episode of Starz’s “Party Down.” In a clip exclusive to Variety, Offerman’s alt-right character compliments the food cooked by Party Down’s head chef Lucy, played by Zoë Chao. As a flustered Chao picks up a knife for self-defense, Offerman praises her: “I just wanted to offer my sincere compliments. The food is sublime.” Premiering on Feb. 24 with episodes releasing weekly, Season 3 of “Party Down” picks up a decade after the first two seasons, which aired in 2009 and 2010. Adam Scott, Ken Marino, Ryan Hansen, Jane Lynch, Martin Starr and Megan Mullally (Offerman’s real-life wife) reprise their original roles. “Party Down” is created by John Enbom, Rob Thomas, Dan Etheridge and Paul Rudd.

Katie Reul editor The first look at “I’m a Virgo,” an upcoming series from Amazon’s Prime Video, were unveiled Monday along with a teaser trailer in anticipation of the show’s world premiere at the SXSW Film & TV Festival. The coming-of-age comedy stars Jharrel Jerome, who won an Emmy in 2019 for his lead performance in the mini series “When They See Us,” alongside series regulars Brett Gray (“On My Block”), Kara Young (“The Punisher”), Allius Barnes (“Cruel Summer”), Olivia Washington (“Breaking”), Mike Epps (“The Upshaws”), Carmen Ejogo (“True Detective”) and Walter Goggins (“The Hateful 8”). “I’m a Virgo” follows a 13-foot-tall man named Cootie (Jerome), a native of Oakland, Calif., who spends his time binging TV shows and comic series. When he encounters his real life superhero, dubbed The Hero (Goggins), Cootie finds himself on course for a mythical quest.

Katie Reul editor The centerpiece of “Saturday Night Live’s” March 4 “Weekend Update” segment was a skewering of “Dilbert” comic creator Scott Adams, who went on a racist rant last month that spurred dozens of newspapers to drop his long-running syndicated cartoon strip. Michael Che, co-anchor of “Update” with Colin Jost, interviewed the cubicle-dweller himself, the cartoon character Dilbert, in an effort to understand how Adams could have gone so off the rails in suggesting that white people are under threat from Black people. Over the course of a controversial YouTube video posted Feb. 22, Adams described how he purposely moved to a community with no Black residents and urged white viewers to “get the hell away from Black people.” He also called the Black community a “hate group.”

Katie Reul editor On the heels of a close victory at Super Bowl LVII, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce is once again taking over global television screens as this week’s host of “Saturday Night Live.” The episode opened with a mock “Fox & Friends” segment, featuring Mikey Day as Steve Doocy, Heidi Gardner as Ainsley Earhardt and Bowen Yang as Brian Kilmeade. The sketch comes amid a cascade of embarrassing revelations around Fox News and its major stars in recent days as the litigation grinds on in the $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit filed against Fox News by Dominion Voting Systems after the 2020 election. As Earhardt, Gardner says of the network’s founder Rupert Murdoch: “Rupert Murdoch would never murder anyone. They sent him away for life. Look how sad he looks.” An image of convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh then appears on the screen as Earhardt realizes her mistake.

Katie Reul editor Jay Weston, producer of films like “Lady Sings the Blues” and “Buddy Buddy,” died of natural causes Feb. 28 at the Motion Picture Home in Woodland Hills, Calif. He was 93. Weston first met Billie Holiday at the Newport Jazz Festival — a chance encounter that would ultimately lead to Weston producing a biopic about her starring Diana Ross in 1972. “Lady Sings the Blues” marked Ross’ feature debut and went on to score five Academy Award nominations, including best actress for Ross and original screenplay. “I read the book and I said to [Holiday’s] agent, ‘I want to make a movie out of it,’” Weston said in a 2011 interview with the Los Angeles Business Journal, referring to the jazz singer’s autobiography. “He said, ‘Give me $5,000, and I’ll think about it.’ So I gave him $5,000, and it took 13 years and many $5,000 payments to keep the rights because everybody wanted it.”

Katie Reul editor Sara Waisglass, Jonathan Kite and Thomas Lennon will star in an upcoming holiday feature from DeVan Clan Productions, entitled “Needle Little Christmas.” The Christmas tale centers around kindred spirits Maddie, Elizabeth and Trevor. When Maddie passes away before the holiday season in a sudden accident, she is given a second chance at life to convince Elizabeth and Trevor that magic exists. The one problem? To do so, Maddie’s spirit is transferred into her family’s Christmas tree. Lennon will portray Perry, an invasive neighbor with Grinch-like reservations about getting into the Christmas cheer. Maddie must thwart off Perry while reminding her family and friends of the power of love before the last needle of the tree drops, thereby erasing her from existence.

Katie Reul editor Disney has released the first trailer for “Haunted Mansion,” a remake of the 2003 film infused with the eeriness of the classic ride at Disneyland. The supernatural comedy film stars LaKeith Stanfield, Rosario Dawson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jared Leto, Winona Ryder, Owen Wilson, Danny DeVito, Dan Levy, Tiffany Haddish. Dawson takes the lead as Gabbie, a single mom who unknowingly moves into a ghost-ridden mansion in New Orleans with her 9-year-old son (Chase Dillon). In order to exorcise their new home, Gabbie calls upon a questionable paranormal expert (Stanfield), a psychic (Haddish), a priest (Wilson) and a historian (DeVito) for help.

Katie Reul editor HBO has released the official trailer for “Succession” Season 4, which is now confirmed to be the final season of the hit show. The new trailer teases the Roy kids’ final battle against their father Logan (Brian Cox), who outmaneuvered them — with some sneaky help from Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) — from stopping the Waystar Royco deal with GoJo in the Season 3 finale. Here’s the official logline: “The sale of media conglomerate Waystar Royco to tech visionary Lukas Matsson moves ever closer. The prospect of this seismic sale provokes existential angst and familial division among the Roys as they anticipate what their lives will look like once the deal is complete. A power struggle ensues as the family weighs up a future where their cultural and political weight is severely curtailed.”

Katie Reul editor Actors Josh Brolin and Sophie Thatcher are set to receive top honors at the 2023 Sun Valley Film Festival amid a jam-packed slate of cinematic programming. Brolin will take home the festival’s Vision Award, which is annually bestowed to industry gamechangers whose work has irrefutably shaped the entertainment sphere. The honor will be presented to Brolin during an April 1 ceremony, followed by a conversation on his career. Most recently, Brolin starred in and executive produced the Prime Video series “Outer Range.” The actor scored an Academy Award nomination in 2008 for his performance in Gus Van Sant’s “Milk,” and has held key roles in other acclaimed films including “No Country for Old Men,” “American Gangster,” “Sicario” and “Oldboy.” The “Avengers” franchise star will join an elite group of past honorees such as Geena Davis, Clint Eastwood, Gal Gadot, Ethan Hawke and Amy Poehler.

Katie Reul editor Disney has released the official trailer for “Peter Pan & Wendy,” the studio’s latest live-action adaptation which sees the beloved lead characters of Walt Disney’s 1953 animated classic in dual protagonist roles. The new trailer is long-awaited for Disney fans, following an exclusive first-look at footage during D23 Expo in September. Similar to the initial teaser, the trailer shows off breathtaking visuals of Neverland, courtesy of the film’s director of photography Bojan Bazelli, and foreshadows an action-packed confrontation between Wendy and the film’s hot-tempered villain, Captain Hook. Directed by David Lowery, the upcoming film stars Alexander Molony and Ever Anderson in the lead roles of Peter Pan and Wendy. Alongside them, Jude Law stars as Captain Hook and Yara Shahidi is making history as the first Black woman to ever take on the role of Tinkerbell.

Katie Reul editor Ms. Pat is back for a third season of shenanigans as the Emmy-nominated comedy series “The Ms. Pat Show” continues. In celebration of Feb. 23 season premiere, series star Patricia “Ms. Pat” Williams and showrunner Jordan E. Cooper sat down for a Variety TV Screening Series conversation, presented by BET+, to discuss classic sitcoms, getting “The Jeffersons” star Marla Gibbs to curse and tackling society’s ongoing obsession with Botox. “The Ms. Pat Show” is based on Williams’ personal life, drawing from the comedienne’s past as a teenage mom and ex-felon. Williams concurrently serves as a writer and producer on the series, which she developed alongside Cooper. The Season 3 premiere also marks Cooper’s directing debut and he helmed three of the nine new episodes.

Katie Reul editor Woody Harrelson is under fire for referencing his controversial stance on vaccination and the COVID-19 pandemic in his opening monologue of the Feb. 25 episode of “Saturday Night Live.” The actor, who took to the stage for his fifth time as “SNL” host, proceeded to ramble off a story that all hinged around the “craziest script” he’s ever read. After several minutes of getting distracted talking about smoking weed, drinking and what kind of tree he was sitting under, the actor describes the aforementioned script. “So the movie goes like this,” Harrelson explains. “The biggest drug cartels in the world get together and buy up all the media and all the politicians and force all the people in the world to stay locked in their homes. And people can only come out if they take the cartel’s drugs and keep taking them over and over.”

Katie Reul editor “Saturday Night Live” cast member Colin Jost, co-anchor of Weekend Update, levied a jab at the Academy for this week’s decision to hire a “crisis team” for the upcoming 2023 Oscars. Devised to ensure first-line responders are available at the awards show in the case of an emergency, the newly-implemented team comes on the heels of last year’s tumultuous ceremony. The 2022 Oscars saw actor Will Smith slap presenter Chris Rock after the comedian made a joke about Smith’s wife. The violent outburst resulted in Smith being banned from events hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for the next decade. “Guys, it’s not going to happen again,” Jost joked, seeming to address the telecast’s producers. “I’m sure you wish it would, for ratings. If anything the promo should be, ‘Who’s going to get slapped this year?’ Can Ana de Armas beat the ‘Tar’ out of Cate Blanchett? Which banshee will knock the shoes off Marcel the Shell? And who has what it takes to ‘Whale’ on Brendan Fraser?”

Katie Reul editor Donald Trump was skewered for his recent press conference in East Palestine, Ohio during the “Saturday Night Live” cold open. Framed as fake C-Span coverage, “SNL” featured player James Austin Johnson embodied the former president as he gave an address to local residents impacted by the recent trail derailment and toxic chemical spill in the area. “I’ve been looking at your river, and it’s so shiny,” Johnson said, impersonating the politician. “I’ve never seen water more beautiful — beautiful rainbows and discoloration. It’s great. It’s wearing makeup, like Fenty beauty water.” Johnson proceeds to shoutout Rihanna for her Feb. 12 halftime show at Super Bowl LVII, commenting on her pregnancy. Regaining focus, Johnson directs blame at the man he identifies as the one true culprit.

Katie Reul editor Will Smith won the NAACP Image Award for outstanding actor in a motion picture for his performance in “Emancipation” on Saturday night, marking his first award win since his infamous incident at the 2022 Oscars in which he slapped Chris Rock onstage. Smith was not present at the ceremony to accept his award in person. Set in 19th century Louisiana, Smith portrays a runaway slave who embarks on a treacherous journey to Baton Rouge while thwarting off violent plantation owners. “Emancipation” was inspired by an 1863 photograph known as “Whipped Peter,” which depicts a once-enslaved individual with severe lacerations on his back. The image’s circulation placed the brutality of slavery in front of the eyes of the American public.

Katie Reul editor The Elephant Whisperers Kartiki Gonsalves’ documentary debut, “The Elephant Whisperers,” released on Netflix, shines a spotlight on the ways in which climate change and human encroachment are rapidly destroying the habitats of Asian elephants. The film’s dire warning is subtly woven into a heartfelt narrative about forging family in unlikely places with elephant caretakers Bomman and Bellie at its core. The duo raise an orphaned elephant named Raghu, whom they’ve cared for since infancy, as well as another calf named Ammu. “[Bomman and Bellie] are still understanding the process of what the Oscars exactly are, but they’re just overwhelmed with messages and calls and really happy to share their lives with such a large audience,” Helmer Kartiki Gonsalves told Variety. “I don’t think they’ve ever had this kind of recognition before.”