In brief: ‘The Wheel of Time’ adds five to season 3 cast and more
The Wheel of Time has added five new cast members ahead of its upcoming third season. The show made the announcement in a post shared to social media on Wednesday. Isabella Bucceri will play Faile Bashere; Nukâka Coster-Waldau will play the eldest Wise One, Bair; Salóme Gunnarsdóttir has been cast as Melaine, a Wise One of the Taardad Aiel; Björn Landberg is Rhuarc, the Clan Chief of the Taardad Aiel; and Synnøve Macody Lund will play Melhindra, a Malkieri survivor. The fantasy series, which stars Rosamund Pike, returns for season 3 on Prime Video on March 13 …
Faran Tahir will reprise his Iron Man role Raza in the upcoming WandaVision spinoff series Vision Quest, he confirmed on his Instagram Story on Wednesday. The actor shared a link to the Deadline story that first reported the news. Tahir will play the villainous character who led the terrorist organization the 10 Rings in the first Marvel Cinematic Universe film back in 2008 in the upcoming Paul Bettany-led Disney+ show, which has been in development since 2022 and was picked up for series in May 2024 …
The Writers Guild of America announced the nominations for the 2025 Writers Guild Awards on Wednesday. A Real Pain, Anora, Challengers, Civil War and My Old Ass were recognized with nominations in the original screenplay category, while A Complete Unknown, Dune: Part 2, Hit Man, Nickel Boys and Wicked were nominated in the adapted screenplay category. The winners of the 77th annual Writers Guild Awards will be announced on Feb. 15 during concurrent ceremonies in New York and LA …
The Illinois Supreme Court has thrown out former Empire actor Jussie Smollett’s conviction for lying about a 2019 hate crime.
Smollett was found guilty in 2021 for faking a racist and homophobic attack and lying to the police. His lawyers said this violated his Fifth Amendment rights because, in 2019, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx had already agreed to drop the charges if Smollett paid $10,000 and did community service. A special prosecutor later charged him again, leading to his trial and conviction.
In its decision, filed on Thursday, the court stated they are resolving a “question about the State’s responsibility to honor the agreements it makes with defendants.”
The court stated it did not find that the state could bring a second prosecution against Smollett after the initial charges were dismissed as part of an agreement and the actor performed the terms of the agreement, noting that Illinois case law establishes that it is “fundamentally unfair to allow the prosecution to renege on a deal with a defendant when the defendant has relied on the agreement to his detriment.”
“We are aware that this case has generated significant public interest and that many people were dissatisfied with the resolution of the original case and believed it to be unjust. Nevertheless, what would be more unjust than the resolution of any one criminal case would be a holding from this court that the State was not bound to honor agreements upon which people have detrimentally relied,” it said.
The Illinois Supreme Court’s decision cancels earlier rulings by Cook County and appellate courts. The court has now sent the case back to the lower court to officially dismiss the charges.
A jury convicted Smollett in December 2021 on five of six felony counts of disorderly conduct stemming from him filing a false police report and lying to police, who spent more than $130,000 investigating his allegations.
He was sentenced to 150 days in county jail, ordered to pay $120,000 in restitution to the city of Chicago, fined $25,000 and ordered to serve 30 months of felony probation.
Blake Lively is taking legal action against her It Ends with Us co-star and director, Justin Baldoni, for alleged sexual harassment during the filming of the adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel.
This comes months after rumors of tension behind the scenes first surfaced.
In the complaint filed with the California Civil Rights Department and obtained by ABC News, Lively claims Baldoni’s alleged behavior caused her “severe emotional distress.”
A representative for Lively said in a statement that “Blake was retaliated against because she raised concerns about sexual harassment and other inappropriate behavior that she and other members of the cast and crew experienced on the set of the film.”
The complaint further alleges that a meeting was held to address Lively’s concerns, adding that it was attended by key stakeholders in the film and Lively’s husband, Ryan Reynolds.
According to the complaint, Lively said she laid out specific demands at the meeting to ensure a safe and professional working environment, including “no more showing nude videos or images of women to Blake” and “no more discussions about sexual conquests in front of Blake and others, no further mentions of cast and crew’s genitalia, no more inquiries about Blake’s weight, and no further mention of Blake’s dead father.”
Lively claims Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer Studios, then engaged in a “social manipulation” campaign to “destroy” Lively’s reputation, according to the complaint. The complaint includes alleged texts from Baldoni’s publicist to a Wayfarer publicist, whom the complaint alleges said Baldoni “wants to feel like [Ms. Lively] can be buried,” and “We can’t write we will destroy her.”
In a message to his publicist, according to the complaint, Baldoni allegedly wrote, “We should have a plan for IF she does the same when [the] movie comes out. Plans make me feel more at ease.”
Bryan Freedman, an attorney for Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer Studios, denied the allegations in a statement to ABC News:
“It is shameful that Ms. Lively and her representatives would make such serious and categorically false accusations against Mr. Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and its representatives, as yet another desperate attempt to ‘fix’ her negative reputation which was garnered from her own remarks and actions during the campaign for the film; interviews and press activities that were observed publicly, in real time and unedited, which allowed for the internet to generate their own views and opinions,” Freedman said. “These claims are completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media.”
Freedman added, “Wayfarer Studios made the decision to proactively hire a crisis manager prior to the marketing campaign of the film, to work alongside their own representative with Jonesworks employed by Stephanie Jones, due to the multiple demands and threats made by Ms. Lively during production which included her threatening to not showing up to set, threatening to not promote the film, ultimately leading to its demise during release, if her demands were not met. It was also discovered that Ms. Lively enlisted her own representative, Leslie Sloan with Vision PR, who also represents Mr. Reynolds, to plant negative and completely fabricated and false stories with media, even prior to any marketing had commenced for the film, which was another reason why Wayfarer Studios made the decision to hire a crisis professional to commence internal scenario planning in the case they needed to address. The representatives of Wayfarer Studios still did nothing proactive nor retaliated, and only responded to incoming media inquiries to ensure balanced and factual reporting and monitored social activity. What is pointedly missing from the cherry-picked correspondence is the evidence that there were no proactive measures taken with media or otherwise; just internal scenario planning and private correspondence to strategize which is standard operating procedure with public relations professionals.”
In the film, Lively plays a woman with a traumatic upbringing who enters into a relationship that turns abusive.
Baldoni previously told Good Morning America that Lively was an integral part of the film and that he partnered on the project with a foundation dedicated to ending domestic and sexual violence.
Blake Lively’s The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants co-stars are supporting the actress amid her legal action against her It Ends with Us co-star and director, Justin Baldoni.
America Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn and Alexis Bledel, who starred with Lively in the 2005 hit movie, signed a joint statement on Sunday, offering Lively “solidarity” in her fight “against the reported campaign waged to destroy her reputation.” The message was posted in a joint post to Ferrera and Tamblyn’s social media accounts.
On Friday, Lively filed a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department accusing Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer Studios of waging a smear campaign against her and accusing the actor of sexual harassment, allegations which Baldoni has denied via a lawyer.
“Throughout the filming of It Ends with Us, we saw her summon the courage to ask for a safe workplace for herself and colleagues on set, and we are appalled to read the evidence of a premeditated and vindictive effort that ensued to discredit her voice,” read the statement from Lively’s former co-stars.
The statement from the group called out “the unabashed exploitation of domestic violence survivors’ stories to silence a woman who asked for safety,” adding, “The hypocrisy is astounding.”
“We are struck by the reality that even if a woman is as strong, celebrated, and resourced as our friend Blake, she can face forceful retaliation for daring to ask for a safe working environment,” continued the statement.
The group also said they were “inspired” by Lively’s “courage to stand up for herself.”
The author of It Ends With Us,Colleen Hoover, also offered support for Lively on social media. “Blake Lively you have been nothing but honest, kind, supportive and patient since the day we met…Never change. Never wilt,” she wrote on Instagram over the weekend.
Robyn Lively, Blake Lively’s sister, also posted a message of support on Instagram Story, linking to TheNew York Times‘ initial coverage of the complaint writing “Thank you, the truth is finally out.”
Bryan Freedman, an attorney for Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer Studios, denied the allegations in a statement to ABC News:
“It is shameful that Ms. Lively and her representatives would make such serious and categorically false accusations against Mr. Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and its representatives, as yet another desperate attempt to ‘fix’ her negative reputation which was garnered from her own remarks and actions during the campaign for the film; interviews and press activities that were observed publicly, in real time and unedited, which allowed for the internet to generate their own views and opinions,” Freedman said. “These claims are completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media.”
Lively starred alongside Ferrera, Tamblyn, and Bledel in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, a story of four friends who buy a mysterious pair of pants that fits each of them despite their differing sizes. The film, released in 2005, was based on the popular book of the same name by Ann Brashares. A sequel came out in 2008.