“Bridgerton” star Nicola Coughlan told Elle UK magazine that she was once confronted by a drunk fan of the Netflix smash hit while in a bathroom. The inebriated woman proceeded to openly discuss Coughlan’s body while right in front of her, much to the actor’s dismay. Coughlan plays Penelope on the Netflix series, with the show’s third season focusing on her love story with Colin Bridgerton.
“You know what was really bizarre was, when I was shooting that series, I was exercising a lot because I knew I had to, so I had lost a bunch of weight – I was probably a size 10 and one of the corsets was a size 8,” Coughlan told Elle about Season 3. “And then people talked about how I was plus size and I was like, ‘How fucked are we that I am the biggest woman you want to see on screen?’”
‘I remember this really drunk girl once talking to me in a bathroom being like, ‘I loved [“Bridgerton”] because of your body,’” she continued. “And she started talking about my body, and I was like, ‘I want to die. I hate this so much…’ It’s really hard when you work on something for months and months of your life, you don’t see your family, you really dedicate yourself and then it comes down to what you look like – it’s so fucking boring.”
Coughlan has regularly spoken out against body shamers during her run on “Bridgerton,” which recently streamed its fourth season. She directly called them out in a 2022 Instagram post that read: “If you have an opinion about my body please, please don’t share it with me…It’s really hard to take the weight of thousands of opinions on how you look being sent directly to you every day.”
She later told the Irish Times: “All I care about is the work. Bodies change, if I lose weight or gain weight or I do anything it’s no one’s business, all I care about is doing good acting and being judged on that.”
Coughlan told Stylist in 2024 amid the release of “Bridgerton” Season 3 that she was adamant about going “very naked” for a sex scene as a direct response to the trolls who slammed her weight online. Coughlan collaborated closely with “Bridgerton” intimacy coordinator Lizzy Talbot on the scene.
“I specifically asked for certain lines and moments to be included,” Coughlan said. “There’s one scene where I’m very naked on camera, and that was my idea, my choice. It just felt like the biggest ‘fuck you’ to all the conversation surrounding my body; it was amazingly empowering. I felt beautiful in the moment, and I thought: ‘When I’m 80, I want to look back on this and remember how fucking hot I looked!’”
Head over to Elle’s website to read Coughlan’s cover in its entirety.
Robert Downey Jr., Anne Hathaway, Paul Mescal, Will Arnett, Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Gwyneth Paltrow are set to present trophies at the 98th Academy Awards.
Raj Kapoor, the show’s executive producer and showrunner, and Katy Mullan, an executive producer, announced the group as the third official round of presenters to join the upcoming ceremony.
Previously announced Oscars presenters include Adrien Brody, Javier Bardem, Kieran Culkin, Chris Evans, Chase Infiniti, Mikey Madison, Demi Moore, Kumail Nanjiani, Maya Rudolph and Zoe Saldaña.
Although Mescal and Infiniti are not individually nominated for their respective appearances in “Hamnet” and “One Battle After Another,” both films have been recognized by the Academy; “Hamnet” received eight nominations and “One Battle After Another” received 13.
Brody, Culkin, Madison and Saldaña return to the stage as last year’s Oscar acting winners and will honor a new crop of victors, although the Academy has not yet confirmed which categories they will present.
The producers will continue to announce talent joining the show in the coming weeks.
This year’s nominations are led by Ryan Coogler’s record-breaking vampire film, “Sinners,” which garnered an all-time high of 16 nominations. Following close behind is “One Battle After Another,” directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, with a total of 13 nods. Both films are nominated for best picture alongside “Bugonia,” “F1,” “Frankenstein,” “Hamnet,” “Marty Supreme,” “The Secret Agent,” “Sentimental Value” and “Train Dreams.”
Hosted by Conan O’Brien, the 98th Academy Awards will air live on ABC and stream live on Hulu on Sunday, March 15, at 7:00 p.m. ET/4:00 p.m. PT, with the official live red-carpet show airing at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT.
“High Potential” was renewed for its third season. The series stars Kaitlin Olson as “a single mom with an exceptional mind, whose unconventional knack for solving crimes leads to an unusual and unstoppable partnership with a by-the-book seasoned detective (Daniel Sunjata),” per the official logline. The series was created by Drew Godard, who executive produces alongside Sarah Esberg for Goddard Textiles, showrunner Todd Harthan, Marc Halsey and Olson.
“9-1-1” will return for Season 10. Created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and showrunner Tim Minear, the series “explores the high-pressure experiences of first responders — including police officers, firefighters and dispatchers — who are thrust into the most frightening, shocking and heart-stopping conditions,” per the official logline. “These emergency responders must try to balance saving those who are at their most vulnerable with solving the problems in their own lives. The show draws from the real lives of first responders who regularly face situations that are often unpredictable, intense and uplifting at the same time.” The cast includes Angela Bassett, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Oliver Stark, Kenneth Choi, Aisha Hinds, Ryan Guzman and Gavin McHugh. Executive producers include Murphy, Falchuk, Minear, Bassett, Peter Krause, John J. Gray, Brad Buecker, Lyndsey Beaulieu, Ted Griffen and Robert M. Williams.
“9-1-1: Nashville” will return for its second season. The newest addition to the “9-1-1” franchise, the series follows first responders through both their work and a “family saga of power and glamour set in one of America’s most diverse and dynamic cities,” per the official logline. The cast includes Chris O’Donnell, Jessica Capshaw, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, LeAnn Rimes, Hailey Kilgore, Michael Provost, Juani Feliz and Hunter McVey. Executive producers include Murphy, Falchuk, Minear, Bassett, Buecker, Chris O’Donnell and showrunner Rashad Raisani.
Timothée Chalamet is taking his viral marketing campaign for “Marty Supreme” to Asia, with the actor unveiling Japan and China legs of his promotional tour as the A24 ping-pong drama crosses $172.8 million worldwide and closes in on the $200 million mark.
The film opens in Japan on March 13 and China on March 20 – two major markets that have yet to be factored into a global cume that already makes “Marty Supreme” the biggest domestic and international release in A24’s history. The studio is currently back on 800-plus screens in the U.S. this weekend.
Chalamet’s unconventional campaign – built around star power, viral social media, and streetwear culture – has drawn younger audiences to a 1950s period piece about an aspiring table tennis player, confounding industry narratives that suggest Gen Z and millennial moviegoers are reluctant to turn out for original, non-franchise films.
The actor has extended that playbook internationally, with activations including a Cup Noodles pop-up in Japan, a Brazil pop-up tied to CCXP, and a screening event in Germany at a Berlin cinema that skewed toward young tastemakers.
Among the campaign’s most-discussed moments: a blimp video that went viral and launched a U.S. tour; a merchandise truck that traveled from New York to London to Brazil; a Nahmias tracksuit collaboration that counted Tom Brady, Misty Copland, Kid Cudi, and Bill Nye among those seen wearing it on social media; an appearance in a music video by rapper EsDeeKid; and a stunt atop the Sphere in Las Vegas. A24 also launched its first-ever popcorn bucket for the film – a giant orange ping-pong ball – alongside a limited-edition Wheaties box and a table tennis pop-up in New York in partnership with Airbnb.
The domestic cume stands at $95.3 million, with the U.K. and Ireland the next-largest market at $21.9 million. Australia has contributed $6.6 million, France $5.6 million, and Italy $5.5 million.
“Marty Supreme” holds the record as the highest-grossing A24 film in the U.K. and Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, Canada, Norway, Israel, Turkey, Poland, Portugal, Croatia, the Dominican Republic, Iceland, and Latvia, and is on track to claim the same distinction in Belgium and Luxembourg, Denmark, and Italy. It also posted A24’s best-ever opening weekends in Germany and Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg, Denmark, France, Australia and New Zealand, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Israel, and Peru.
In “Ngwato,” the story of a young, gay black South African man, travelling from the city back to his ancestral village to tell his parents he’s getting married to a man and seeking their blessing for the union, is not just a queer depiction on-screen but of the relationship breakdown between sons and fathers.
“Ngwato,” written and directed by Magangwe Mahlase, is having its premiere this week at the 8th Joburg Film Festival in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Produced by Kevin Moeketsi through Ongamavile Pictures with support from South Africa’s National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), “Ngwato” is sure to make for some uncomfortable seat-adjusting, at least from some cinemagoers.
Starring Gifter Ngobeni, Collen Modise, Molobane Maja, Mpho Molepo, Bathabile Mashigo and Ray Neo Buso, “Ngwato” follows a young, gay man who returns home and becomes part coming-out story and part father-son story.
Of course, the arrival of a gay son, working as a fashion designer, who upends family and village traditions once the news leaks among the villagers, leads to tensions and is being used by a tribal elder to try and push Ngwato’s dad, Lesiba, out of his leadership role.
“The idea for the film came about after looking at the current South African men and their sons. I realized that a lot of men don’t have a relationship with their fathers. Previously, kids would follow in their dad’s footsteps, work on the farm in the village and bond. Many sons no longer have those strong relationships with their fathers.”
“I used the idea of the son being gay and the village discovering it, leading to people who say the father now can’t be seen as an advisor to the village chief, as the conflict point leading to an exploration of the existing breakdown and strained relationship over years between father and son.”
Ngwato, a Sepedi-language film, was lensed over two weeks during February 2024 in Matibidi in South Africa’s Mpumalanga province.
On choosing to highlight a new and still little explored issue besides just the gay son and estranged father dynamic, the 34-year-old Mahlase tells Variety that “in South Africa and across Africa a lot of people still face that.”
“It still hasn’t changed. In many communities, far from Johannesburg and the bigger cities, it’s still when kids return home to their families that there are cultural and other clashes and that’s why we picked that issue.”
“Shooting in Matibidi, we had to transport most of our crew to Mpumalanga and when we got there, the logistics of everything – accommodation for the actors and travel – were a challenge. But we were adamant to work with a Pedi crew and Pedi-speaking actors to make the film.”
“We had to find Pedi-speaking actors who were really good and audition. Then, when we started filming, we worked with service people who were not accustomed to film production. But we wanted to bring people in who have never had opportunities.”
Mahlase said South Africa’s film biz, although doing lip-service to transformation and opening up the industry, often sacrifices patience and waiting to find people to show and be the change practically, for the sake of speed, efficiency and production costs.
“I grew up around Pedi people and the world of their stories. The most important thing for me in transformation is telling your own stories. There are so many stories in the villages still left untold. And we don’t tell stories physically in the villages. We just recreate villages on sets in Johannesburg and in the cities.”
“For transformation to happen, we have to sacrifice the temporary satisfaction of production for long-term gain. Filmmakers just think, ‘Let’s shoot in Soweto and it’s quick, and we’re done.’ But if you have to sacrifice, scratch for real solutions, that’s where transformation happens,” he says.
“Only the top five cast are from Johannesburg. Everyone else on screen are from the village – all the men, all the villagers, even the guy acting as a homeless man, are all locals.”
From the outset, Mahlase explains he didn’t just want to contrast the lives of the son and the father but also the city life where the son lives and the rural vista where the parents live and the son came from.
“The city is hustling and bustling, in the village it’s slow. You get a better chance to reflect, to figure out life. The village gives more time to rediscover, whereas the city is about chasing work and deadlines. So we were intentional about separating and juxtaposing those two worlds.”
Ngwato contains several intense and emotional scenes – including a physical beating of the son by others, and the mom telling the dad to leave the house.
“The first highly emotional moment is when the son tells the dad that he’s gay. The second is where the mom kicks the dad out – it’s beautiful because that’s where he says, “All I’ve ever wanted was to make you proud, but every time I try it’s like I’m moving backwards and you don’t even allow me to be seen.”
“I think a lot of young men desperately want their fathers’ attention and their fathers’ love and acceptance and recognition – whether gay or not – and they’re not getting it.”
“The last scene is when the dad comes back and gives his son a hug. That’s what we need. We need a hug from our dads but we so seldom get those.”
“Ngwato” ends with a twist and breaks the trope of “happily ever after” in the son’s journey of self-discovery. Once he returns to the city and reunites with his partner after getting his parents’ blessing for marriage, he comes to a new realisation that might also surprise viewers.
“When I wanted to go study filmmaking, my mother said, ‘No, my son, you should go into mining because it pays better and look at your cousins, they’re working at the mine and they have money.”
“But I sat her down, and I said I can go and be a miner, but deep down, I still have that desire. So I can either go and do what you want and eventually quit, or do what I want. And she said, ‘Okay, it’s fine, go be yourself.’ My message to young African filmmakers is stick to your guns.”
“It doesn’t matter if the industry – like the film industry anywhere in Africa – is difficult or suffering. Look at examples from sport, music, acting – the people who decided that there’s nothing else they want to do except that and who were willing to put in the work to make their dream a reality.”
About making “Ngwato,” Mahlase calls it a “personal recollection and introspection of myself, put on screen.”
“I didn’t grow up with a dad. He died when I was younger. When I was writing ‘Ngwato,’ I placed elements in the film of what I’ve wanted from my father. If my father were here, I would have wanted him to give me a hug. I would have wanted him to say to me, ‘Everything’s going to be fine, you’ve got this, my boy.’”
“I wrote it from the perspective of a man who didn’t have a relationship with my father. And if I had a relationship with my father, these are the things that I would have wanted from him.”
SPOILER ALERT:This post contains stories from the two-part Season 1 finale of “The Beauty,” now streaming on FX on Hulu and Disney+.
FX’s body-horror odyssey “The Beauty” spent its first season reveling in the gooey, revolting transformations born from taking a drug that can turn a hum-drum existence into a sculpted manifestation of perfection. Average people cocooned in their own veiny skin sacks, rip open a whole new lease on life with chiseled abs, symmetrical faces and enough confidence to take on the world.
Over and over again, the series from co-creators Ryan Murphy and Matthew Hodgson showed why people would want to take The Beauty, side effects be damned. But the Season 1 finale offered up the most compelling reason yet why they shouldn’t. In the first part of the two-episode finale, audiences are introduced to Bella (Emma Halleen), a perfectly normal high school student who watches as The Beauty craze sweeps through her world. Her privileged best friend, coming off an unsatisfying nose job, takes the drug and shows up the next day blonde, tanned and ready for the runway. It makes Emma crave the same instantaneous achievement of supposed perfection, even though her parents refuse to consider it, and they don’t have the money even if they did.
Director Michael Uppendahl says the decision to shift the focus of the series in the eleventh hour to a teenage girl the audience had never met came down to who among us would be the best commentator on a global sensation.
Emma Halleen as Bella, Annabelle Wachtel as Ruthie
Courtesy of FX
“A litmus test for a population at any given time is a 16-year-old girl,” Uppendahl tells Variety. “They’re up on everything. They’re in a major transitional stage in their life. They’re smarter than the boys, especially at that age. I mean, they remain smarter, but I think they are a measure of what any society is experiencing. This is an uncomfortable thing to confront, and that’s why it makes them the best vessel for this story.”
With no other options to get The Beauty, Bella takes matters into her own hands. One of the technicians who injected her friend offers Emma an alternative: pay him what cash she can get from pawning her mother’s jewelry and he will give her The Beauty as a sexually transmitted disease. All season, The Beauty’s dealer, callous billionaire Byron Forst (Ashton Kutcher), has pushed to release the drug while fearing the one thing he can’t control –– this secondhand means of distribution. Bella validates Byron’s fears.
Despite her knight in shining Beauty revealing he took a second shot without knowing the consequences, Bella proceeds not only with losing her virginity, but taking the STD dosage. What she gets is a nightmare scenario, one her mother (Maria Dizzia) unfortunately comes home to discover. In her rebirth, Bella is deformed beyond recognition or repair, a fleshy mass of bleeding orifices, mutated limbs and contorted bone. It’s hard to look at, and that’s exactly what Uppendahl wanted. The team was adamant that Halleen wear Bella’s post-Beauty monstrous suit, and they kept her hidden from Dizzia until the moment she finds her in a closet at the end of a trail of blood and goo.
“Maria is a wonderful actor, so you’ve got to really put it on her to make sure that she’s carrying the audience through it,” he says. “I just tried to think of what would be the worst thing to see. Part of that is anything happening to your child is terrible, but a full compromise of your bodily architecture and skeleton added a whole extra degree of awfulness and horror.”
To achieve the visual anguish and revulsion of Bella’s transformation, they built a set specifically to house the practical suit created by special effects makeup designer David Presto and his team.
“We actually raised the set and then dug it out, so that Emma could be lowered into it, because her spine had been compromised,” Uppendahl says. “She was mostly in a full suit, but there was a team of people in the closet with her. Emma was the root of the performance, and that is her voice, but there were puppeteers — I think we had six — that were manipulating aspects of her. I worked with Emma quite a bit on how to try and make it make sense to us what she was physically, and then the puppeteers augmented the rest in incredible ways.”
Michael Uppendahl
Courtesy of FX
The reason Halleen had to be in the suit came down to one thing. “The eyes were important to me and to Ryan and to Dave Presto. To make sure that the real Emma was in there, and that was the true connection she had with Maria,” Uppendahl says. “They had done such great work as a believable mother and daughter, and to cap it off that way was horrible and wonderful all at once.”
Ultimately, the scene becomes the cautionary cornerstone of a sea change in Byron’s world. In the opening moments of the second episode of the two-part finale, Byron’s wife Franny (Isabella Rossellini) is forcibly given The Beauty by her sons, Tig (Ray Nicholson) and Gunther (Brandon Gillard). She had refused to relinquish the battle scars of her life and age, but she wakes up (as guest star Nicola Peltz Beckham) to learn her sons had decided to overrule that wish against her will. In protest to her transformation, she digs a piece of broken pottery into her neck, attempting to take her life instead of living with unwanted rejuvenation. Now, she’s being kept on life support in a gilded ballroom, once again against her wishes.
The moment causes Byron, a selfish and braggadocious villain, to have a change of heart, stopping shipments of The Beauty and paying off the families ravaged by its gruesome side effects, like Bella’s. His lawyers suggest nearly half a million have suffered severe complications. But given his track record, would Byron really revert course just because his wife denies what he, up to this point, saw as a gift to humanity?
“I think he does change,” Uppendahl says. “I think he truly loves Franny, and who wouldn’t if it’s Isabella Rossellini? She always sees through him, and it was the fuel for really fun banter between them. He loves that tension with her. It’s great that we can finally dig into something really profound between them. This is the only thing that could change a guy like that.”
Or perhaps Byron was just hypnotized by the series’ clever nod to Rossellini’s “Death Becomes Her” character as a temptress offering the elixir of eternal life. Post-transformation, Beckham introduces the new Franny while wearing a barely-there top of strung-together chunky jewels, a clever reproduction of the iconic costume worn by Rossellini in the 1992 film. Uppendahl isn’t even sure Rossellini knew about the fashionable allusion to her role, given she wasn’t in that scene. But he leapt at the chance to pay homage to her.
“It was Ryan’s idea, and as soon as I heard it, I thought it was spectacular,” he says. “Someone recently started making that jeweled top again. It is kind of coming back in fashion, on a very high, rather exclusive level that Franny could afford.”
As the season comes to a close, “The Beauty” tees up plenty of complications for future seasons, although FX hasn’t renewed it yet. Uppendahl says he would like to see Lux Pascal return as Carla, the transgender science technician originally played by Rev Yolanda, who took a dose stolen from Bryon. Carla’s friend Mike (played in Beauty form by Joey Pollari) was already assassinated for lifting their shots, so audiences have good reason to worry for Carla.
“She’s worth fearing for,” Uppendahl says. “Reverend Yolanda was so wonderful, and so was Lux. She didn’t have a lot of screen time, but she was transcendent, and I feel there’s room for her in my ideas for Season 2.”
Jessica Alexander as Jordan Bennett, Hudson Barry as Cooper 2, Anthony Ramos as The Assassin, Jeremy Pope as Jeremy
Courtesy of FX
Coming into the two-episode finale, Evan Peters’ detective Cooper also accepted the drug –– through STD transmission with his partner, Jordan (Jessica Alexander) –– only to learn his perfect self is a 12-year-old boy. Soon, Cooper, Jordan and their reluctant new associates, Byron’s assassins Antonio (Anthony Ramos) and Jeremy (Jeremy Pope), find themselves in the crosshairs of a brewing war within the Forst family. Just because Bryon wants to curb the spread of The Beauty doesn’t mean those reaping the financial benefits, including his son Tig, are similarly eager to throw in the towel. Tig teams up with disgruntled robot designer Dr. Diana Sterling (Ari Graynor) to issue a deal to Cooper, Jordan, Antonio and Jeremy. Sterling has synthesized a cure, albeit an untested one, that could return Cooper to his original form –– or create more issues. Cooper accepts the blind bargain, but the others reject it, having to admit to themselves they prefer their younger, tighter bodies.
“They’ve been given a lot, and they don’t want to give it up,” Uppendahl says. “For different reasons, the idea of going back to what you were when you’ve turned into something you perceive as better is very unattractive to people. It’s not necessarily the smartest move, but it is interesting when faced with the choice that they all decline it. It is a deep question given they know the horrors of this.”
The audience doesn’t yet learn what comes of the so-called cure. Cooper’s dose encases him in yet another cocoon, but the series fades to black before he is reborn again. The season ends on Jordan, Antonio and Jeremy watching him emerge, and Uppendahl says he wanted to make sure he captured a reaction for anything that might spring from that chrysalis, even a few unlikely scenarios.
“When we were shooting the scene, I would be walking them through it and I told the actors that he comes out and he appears as different people to get their reactions,” Uppendahl says. “At one point, I told him it was Shaquille O’Neal. I don’t think that’s probably the case, but you never know!”
SXSW has enlisted boldface names, including Jane Fonda, Demi Moore, Serena Williams, Keke Palmer and Andy Cohen, to deliver keynote addresses at the annual Austin-set festival.
This year’s edition will be held from March 12-18. Among the films slated to premiere are horror comedy “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come,” Boots Riley’s comedic look at professional shoplifters “I Love Boosters” and John Carney’s “Power Ballad” with Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas as a past-his-prime wedding singer and a young rockstar. On the TV side, there’s David E. Kelley‘s “Margo’s Got Money Troubles,” an adaptation of Rufi Thorpe’s bestselling novel led by Elle Fanning, Michelle Pfeiffer, Nick Offerman and Nicole Kidman, as well as the long-awaited Season 3 premiere of “The Comeback” from Michael Patrick King and Lisa Kudrow.
“SXSW has always been the ultimate convergence of culture and innovation, but this announcement takes it to a new level,” said Greg Rosenbaum, senior VP of programming at SXSW. “Between the business moguls, the political giants, and the entertainment legends our team has assembled, the collective star power coming to SXSW might actually be visible from space.”
See below for SXSW’s description of the newly added keynotes and featured sessions:
Say It Louder: Artists, Activism & the First Amendment—In this Keynote, Committee for the First Amendment founder Jane Fonda, comedian W. Kamau Bell and the ACLU’s Jessica Weitz discuss the vital link between culture and action, sharing how the First Amendment empowers artists to challenge power and how every individual can take concrete action to protect free speech when democracy is at stake.
A Talk About Life, Sibling Rivalry and The Lonely Island—Do you like discussions about art, comedy and music? So do we! Join Jorma Taccone and Asa Taccone, two Emmy Award winning brothers (for Dick In A Box, don’t get too excited), as they discuss their work together with The Lonely Island, Electric Guest and a gang of other topics, probably. Be there or be square, nerd!
Baby, This is Keke Palmer Live—Join Keke Palmer and the cast of I Love Boosters, Naomi Ackie, Taylour Paige, Eiza González, Poppy Liu and Demi Moore, for a live podcast recording of her hit podcast, Baby, this is Keke Palmer.
Bob Odenkirk: Entering His Action Hero Phase and the State of Action Films with theTeam Behind NORMAL—Collider’s Perri Nemiroff joins Bob Odenkirk, director Ben Wheatley, writer Derek Kolstad and producer Marc Provissiero to discuss their kinetic neo-Western action film, exploring the future of the genre and Odenkirk’s evolution into an undeniable action lead.
Breaking Barriers, Building Solutions: Meet the Changemakers Transforming HealthInnovation—Presented by Serena Williams and Reckitt Catalyst, this conversation spotlights underrepresented founders reshaping health through community-driven innovation and scalable change: Catherine Casey Nanda, Kwamane Liddell, Mika Eddy and Ryan Dullea.
Chaos, Craft, and Chris Fleming—Fresh off his HBO special, Chris Fleming brings his fearless, absurdly precise comedy universe to SXSW for a celebratory deep dive into the creative process and wild physicality behind his singular storytelling.
Clips & Conversation with Riz Ahmed on BAIT—Join Emmy and Oscar-winning actor Riz Ahmed for a preview and live conversation around his upcoming Prime Video comedy series, BAIT, about a struggling actor who auditions for the role of a lifetime, only to see his life spiral out of control over four frenetic days.
Founder-Led Growth: Turning Audience Signal into AI-Powered Commerce—Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni, cofounders of shopping agent Phia, share their experience building an AI-native commerce app while prioritizing meaningful community engagement to inform product roadmap.
Matt Strauss & Andy Cohen: Community, Culture & the Future of Entertainment—MattStrauss and Andy Cohen, in conversation with S.E. Cupp, will explore the evolution of entertainment beyond platforms, exploring how immersive experiences and fandom-building transform shows into expansive worlds and viewers into active participants.
Networth and Chill with guest Governor Gavin Newsom—Join Your Rich BFF Vivian Tu for a live-taping of her podcast, Networth & Chill, where she gets up close and personal about the good, bad, and ugly of how money impacts our lives. In this special episode on the SXSW Keynote stage, Vivian will interview Governor Gavin Newsom about why politics matters for our pocketbooks.
Not All Superheroes Wear Capes: Out of the Kitchen, Into the Comic—Following the success of Feeding Dangerously, a graphic novel about his humanitarian organization World Central Kitchen, José Andrés will sit down with writer Steve Orlando and Marvel Comics editor Nick Lowe to discuss the universal appeal of food and comics.
Play It Live: How Livestreaming is Rewriting the Rules of Music—Twitch’s Head of Community Mary Kish sits down with Tierra Whack and DJDave to explore how artists are bypassing algorithms to redefine the music industry, utilizing live streaming as a real-time studio, stage, and fan hub that prioritizes authentic, collaborative creation.
This week, “The View” has been feeling different from how it has in years. Suddenly, it’s relevant.
One might think this is nothing new — after all, in the first Trump presidency, and before that for much of its history, the panel show was a clearinghouse for fiery debates about politics and policy. Sure, maybe the producers went a little far placing co-panelists Rosie O’Donnell and Elisabeth Hasselbeck in a literal split-screen for their infamous 2007 fight over Iraqi casualties (the argument that directly led to O’Donnell quitting the show). But it was all in service of generating a conversation that looked, onscreen, a bit like the ones Americans were having out there in our multifarious country. From a certain angle, the rancor could look like part of the fun.
Which is why Hasselbeck’s return, this week, has been so welcome. It’s not that this viewer agrees with the points Hasselbeck makes — far from it! (I did root for her on 2001’s “Survivor: The Australian Outback,” back when she was a 23-year-old shoe designer. The politics stuff came later.) But “The View” has lately been lacking energy in general and a genuine broadcast talent to put forward what is a mainstream point of view in particular. Hasselbeck has given the show the jolt it needed; I hope the producers find a way to bring her back for longer than a week.
Consider, for instance, the legitimate bit of news Hasselbeck made in condemning Megyn Kelly. “How dare you, Megyn Kelly,” Hasselbeck said, excoriating the podcast host for her claim that U.S. servicemembers who died after strikes on Iran did not die for the benefit of American interests. “I’m not afraid of her,” Hasselbeck continued. “I have my heart with my friends in the military — you do not get to authorize who they died for.”
The two women, both Trump voters and both former Fox News talent (Hasselbeck went to “Fox & Friends” for two years after her “The View” tenure ended in 2013), would seem to have plenty in common, but the circular-firing-squad quality of conservatism at this moment means that the fissures are all on display. Which is not to say that Hasselbeck was entirely training her fire on her own side! Watching her claim that Kristi Noem’s Congressional testimony, in which Senators on both sides of the aisle ripped into her language around ICE actions, paled in comparison to the success of Noem’s record was, at least, novel. Seeing her read it to camera unchallenged would have been noxious. Seeing it catalyze an actual response from co-hosts who’ve lately been sleepwalking through agreeing with one another was like a time-travel trip back to when this show sat at the center of culture. I never thought I’d be so happy to hear the phrase “Let me finish”!
This all has so much more heat than watching Joy Behar and company agree with one another and then move on. The last true token conservative on the program was Meghan McCain, whose complicated relationship with both Trump’s policies and with her own stardom lent the show a sparking, combustible energy — one truly did not know what would happen as she continued to drive the conversation. After her 2021 departure, Ana Navarro and Alyssa Farah Griffin — one of whom is an apostate Republican who publicly deplores Trump, the latter of whom worked in his first administration before denouncing him after Jan. 6, 2021 — have put forward a perspective that exists far more widely among the national media than among elected officials or, seemingly, people in our world, that of the Never-Trumper Republican. The great challenge of the Trump era, and one that the media has generally struggled to meet, has been to acknowledge the reality that Trump voters represent a transformative political force in this country, and that this era is not going to end anytime soon. Placing Hasselbeck on “The View” is less platforming her ideas (they already have a platform, in the form of the presidency) than forcing them to be interrogated rather than just treated as someone else’s problem.
Hasselbeck first left “The View” early in Barack Obama’s second presidential term; ratings had slowed, and producers faced pressure from ABC to turn down the show’s political tenor. (Hasselbeck was replaced by Jenny McCarthy, who — views on vaccines aside — is not one to speak on policy.) But Hasselbeck’s return has lent “The View” a high-stepping energy it hasn’t had in years. Behar and especially Goldberg seem invigorated by the opportunity to parry with Hasselbeck, in part because (at least for TV) they have a relationship rooted in some kind of mutual respect. (It seemed apparent, by the end of McCain’s tenure, that this was not the dynamic at all.) They can argue to the end of the “Hot Topics” segment and, with nothing settled, return and restage the argument the next day. I’m not sure that’s moving the discourse forward, but it’s at least more illuminating as to where we are as a nation than I’ve lately seen. And it makes the case for, should she want it, Hasselbeck’s full-time return — as long as she’s met by co-panelists willing to challenge her, too.
Audible is queuing up a new batch of true-crime and investigative journalism podcasts that bring together some of the biggest names in the space including Dan Taberski, Paul Holes, Leon Neyfakh and Laura Beil.
The slate includes the fifth season of the long-running “Dr. Death” franchise, which has been one of Wondery’s biggest hits and was adapted into a TV series, as well as Season 5 of the “Over My Dead Body” true-crime anthology and “OnlyFantasy,” an investigative look at how porn-friendly platform OnlyFans has become an “emotional marketplace.”
Other former Wondery shows that are now available through Audible include “Hysterical” and “Dying for Sex.”
“This combined slate represents a ‘Justice League’ of journalists and audio storytellers in one home,” said Marshall Lewy, Audible’s head of content for North America. “These are some of the very best journalists and hosts telling incredibly important and compelling stories in audio. They’ve developed loyal audiences who want to see what story they dig into next. By bringing Wondery’s award-winning lineup of investigative journalism and true crime together with Audible’s, we’ve creating an unmatched slate in the industry.”
Laura Beil, creator and host of “Dr. Death,” said in a statement that bringing the show’s next instalment chapter to Audible “feels like a natural fit. As a journalist who’s spent decades investigating systemic failures in the U.S. healthcare system, I know these are not just stories, these are people’s lives. I value Audible’s commitment to supporting the kind of long-form investigative journalism that takes time and resources to get right.”
Here are the upcoming narrative nonfiction titles announced by Audible:
“Finding the Lost Girls” (premieres March 19, 2026) Narrated and investigated by Paul Holes; written and produced by Peter McDonnell
For decades, Joseph Naso made his living taking people’s portraits in the Bay Area, but he harbored a monstrous secret: He was one of California’s most prolific serial killers. During a probation visit, an officer discovered a list of clues to what appeared to be 10 murders. A statewide investigation exposed that Naso had led a shocking and secret life of predation and violence. A judge sentenced Naso to death for six of the murders on his list and shipped him off to San Quentin. But Naso’s other homicides went cold, perhaps permanently. A few years ago however, celebrated detective Paul Holes reopened them. He’d been part of the original investigative team, and that work felt unfinished. This series is the gripping tale of Paul’s real-time investigation into four murders related to Joe Naso, pitting one of America’s best detectives against one of its most prolific and deranged serial killers. It was recorded, written, and produced as events unfolded. The question is, can Paul solve these cold cases and bring relief and justice for these women and their families before Naso dies and takes his monstrous secrets with him?
“OnlyFantasy” (premieres May 21, 2026) Hosted by Leon Neyfakh and Gracie Canaan
From the team behind “Slow Burn” and “Think Twice,” this series explores how we think about digital connection and human intimacy, told through a close examination of the adult platform OnlyFans. Hosted by journalist Leon Neyfakh and comedian and OnlyFans content creator Gracie Canaan, “OnlyFantasy” navigates timely questions about autonomy, performance, profit — and whether connection can be authentic when it is mediated by a screen. Through meticulous reporting and exclusive access, Neyfakh and Cannan trace how the spicy subscription platform has surprisingly become an emotional marketplace. Is what’s happening on OnlyFans real? Or is it merely a fantasy?
“Over My Dead Body” Season 5 (2026) Hosted by Mitch Moxley
In the fifth season of the anthology series about people “who are pushed beyond their limits and do unspeakable things,” an injured stuntwoman finds herself in financial dire straits and reinvents herself as a personal injury attorney. When she falls in love with a man who pulls her into the center of a dangerous multimillion-dollar staged-accident scheme, success comes fast — but the consequences come faster.
“Dr. Death: The Cowboy” Season 5 (2026) Hosted by Laura Beil
The award-winning series returns, continuing to explore the dark side of medicine and the vulnerable trust we place in our doctors. New details for Season 5 are to be announced later.
“Manifesto” (2026) Hosted by Dan Taberski
Just in time for America’s 250th birthday, Dan Taberski, creator of podcasts including “Hysterical” and “Missing Richard Simmons,” sets off on his most complicated quest yet: to reclaim the manifesto. Dan will attempt to rescue the manifesto as a form from the sweaty clutches of cynical politicians and mass shooters and return it to its rightful place: with the artists, the warriors, the visionaries, and the mildly crazy regular folks with something to say, the passion to say it, and the courage to do something about it.
Two very different films are getting the graphic novel treatment from Titan Comics.
“My Father’s Dragon,” adapted from the Netflix animated feature based on Ruth Stiles Gannett’s beloved children’s novel, is hitting shelves on Sep. 15. Meanwhile, “Highlander: The Original Screenplay,” based on Gregory Widen’s script that would be the basis for the cult fantasy action-adventure, is set for release in Nov 17.
“My Father’s Dragon,” published under the Titan Nova (YA) imprint, draws directly from the critically acclaimed film and features artwork developed by the award-winning Irish animation studio Cartoon Saloon, alongside Oscar-nominated director Nora Twomey. The story follows Elmer as he struggles to adjust after a sudden move to the city with his mother. He runs away in search of the mysterious Wild Island – and a dragon in desperate need of rescue. His journey introduces him to ferocious beasts, a strange and wondrous land, and the beginnings of an unforgettable friendship.
“Working with very talented creatives such as art director Áine McGuinness (‘Late Afternoon,’ ‘Éiru’), production designer Rosa Ballester Cabo (‘Song of the Sea,’ ‘The Breadwinner’) and screenwriter Meg LeFauve (‘Inside Out,’ ‘Inside Out 2’), on ‘My Father’s Dragon’ film was an incredible experience,” said Twomey. “Seeing the story take on a new life with an adaptation by the brilliant Samuel Sattin (‘Wolfwalkers,’ ‘Song of the Sea,’ and ‘The Secret of Kells’ graphic novels) is truly amazing, and to have the graphic novel adapted by the legendary Titan Comics is very exciting for everyone who worked on the film.”
For “Highlander: The Original Screenplay,” the novel presents the immortal saga of Connor MacLeod as Wilden first imagined it when he first wrote the script as a UCLA undergraduate, before it became the initial foundation for the cinema classic (now getting a big-screen reboot). Spanning centuries of history, epic duels, and shadowed rivalries, the story follows Connor’s journey across eras as he faces other immortals in a deadly contest for a mysterious and ultimate prize.
“I have been a fan of ‘Highlander’; since what feels like the dawn of time, so it’s a genuine thrill to bring this story back as originally envisaged by the man who created it all, Gregory Widen,” said Jonathan Wilkins, the editor of “Highlander: The Original Screenplay.”
“For the first time, readers will be able to experience this epic adventure set across the centuries. It’s been a genuine thrill to work with Gregory to discover the various avenues his story explored before filming began. So get ready to visit the blood-stained highlands of the mid-1500s and the seamy streets of New York of the early 1980s for a spectacular take on an immortal tale!”
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