In brief: ‘Yellowstone’ spin-off, ‘Friday Night Lights’ reboot lands at Peacock and more
The upcoming Friday Night Lights reboot has landed at Peacock. Netflix lost out to the NBCU streamer for the new adaptation of the high school football-centric drama series in a battle that played out over the last several days. Jason Katims, the original series’ showrunner, will helm for Universal Television, while original director Peter Berg and producer Brian Grazer are also set to return …
Hold on to your horses: there’s more Yellowstone on the way. The universe is expanding, as Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser are set to star in a brand-new spin-off series as their characters, Beth and Rip, Variety reports. The news comes just days before the season 5 finale of Yellowstone airs …
Eddie Redmayne will join Julia Roberts in the new thriller Panic Room. Deadline reports that Elizabeth Olsen is also attached to the Warner Bros. film, which will be directed by Sam Esmail. While the plot is being kept under wraps, it has been described as a paranoid thriller similar to Esmail’s previous Emmy-winning show, Mr. Robot …
The Wicked promotional run has become the press tour that has spawned a thousand memes, as stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo were seen constantly tearing up, full-out crying and being dramatic while talking about the film. But the star of another musical film — albeit an animated one — says people just don’t understand what it’s like to be, as she puts it, “a theater kid.”
Auli’i Cravalho, who provides the voice of the main character in Disney’s Moana and Moana 2, tells Vanity Fair, “I need people to understand what it’s like to be a theater kid. Being a theater kid is emotional. Get off my girls Ariana and Cynthia’s backs. Do you understand me?”
She continues, “You don’t know what it’s like to be working on a film for this long. The film is two hours and 40 minutes long. If you’re not crying after working with someone for that long, and you’re both theater kids and you’re singing live … I am very passionate about this.”
Auli’i says she plans to see Wicked as soon as she can.
Justin Baldoni has filed a new civil lawsuit against Blake Lively, her husband, Ryan Reynolds, the couple’s publicist Leslie Sloane and Sloane’s public relations company, Vision PR, for, among other things, extortion and defamation.
Baldoni, who directed and starred in the film It Ends With Us with Lively, is accusing Lively of having “robbed” Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios LLC of control of the film, as well as destroying Baldoni’s “personal and professional reputations and livelihood.”
The suit lists Baldoni, Wayfarer and Baldoni’s publicist Jennifer Abel as plaintiffs, as well as Melissa Nathan, a crisis PR specialist hired by Wayfarer Studios, and Jamey Heath, Baldoni’s friend and podcast co-host. They are currently seeking $400 million in damages.
“Lively stole Wayfarer’s movie, hijacked Wayfarer’s premiere, destroyed Plaintiffs’ personal and professional reputations and livelihood, and aimed to drive Plaintiffs out of business entirely,” the suit reads.
The suit claims Lively pushed a “false and damaging narrative” against Baldoni that was “rife with lies and doctored ‘evidence'” in accusing him of sexual harassment on the set of It Ends with Us.
Lively first raised allegations of sexual harassment against Baldoni and accused him and his publicity team of trying to destroy her reputation in a complaint she filed in December with the California Civil Rights Department, which included numerous text messages and communications she claimed were part of a campaign to attack her public image. The New York Times was the first to report Lively’s legal complaint.
Lively then formally filed a lawsuit in New York against Baldoni and other defendants, again alleging sexual harassment.
Bryan Freedman, the attorney for Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios, denied all allegations.
Baldoni’s suit accuses Sloane of having gone “so far as to propagate malicious stories portraying Baldoni as a sexual predator” and Reynolds of using the term to describe Baldoni in a call with Baldoni’s agent. The suit claims Reynolds told Baldoni’s rep to “drop” him as a client.
Baldoni also accused Reynolds of launching into an “aggressive tirade, berating Baldoni in what Baldoni later described as a ‘traumatic’ encounter” at the couple’s home during the film’s production.
The suit claims Baldoni and the other plaintiffs were “the targets of a calculated and vitriolic smear campaign” lodged by the defendants and that Lively, leveraging her and her husband’s star power, took control of the film — including Lively having her own cut of it.
Freedman said in a statement, “This lawsuit is a legal action based on an overwhelming amount of untampered evidence detailing Blake Lively and her team’s duplicitous attempt to destroy Justin Baldoni, his team and their respective companies by disseminating grossly edited, unsubstantiated, new and doctored information to the media.”
“It is clear based on our own all out willingness to provide all complete text messages, emails, video footage and other documentary evidence that was shared between the parties in real time, that this is a battle she will not win and will certainly regret,” Freedman continued.
Freedman ended his statement by saying, “We know the truth, and now the public does too. Justin and his team have nothing to hide, documents do not lie.”
ABC News has reached out to Lively, Reynolds, Sloane and Vision PR for a comment in response to Baldoni’s suit against them, but has not yet received a response.
Baldoni’s latest action in his legal battle against Lively comes after he had filed a lawsuit against The New York Times on Dec. 31 for libel and false light invasion of privacy, after it published the story “We Can Bury Anyone” on Dec. 22, which included reporting on Lively’s complaint. That same day, Lively formally filed her lawsuit in New York against Baldoni and other defendants.
Baldoni was reportedly dropped from his talent agency after the story was published.
In his complaint against The New York Times, Baldoni accused the newspaper of relying on “cherry-picked” and altered communications, with details “stripped of necessary context and deliberately spliced” to “mislead.”
In a statement to ABC News, The New York Times denied Baldoni’s accusations and said their original story was “meticulously and responsibly reported,” and that their report was “based on a review of thousands of pages of original documents, including the text messages and emails that we quote accurately and at length in the article.”
Lively’s attorney issued a statement amid the ongoing feud.
“Ms. Lively’s federal litigation before the Southern District of New York involves serious claims of sexual harassment and retaliation, backed by concrete facts. This is not a ‘feud’ arising from ‘creative differences’ or a ‘he said/she said’ situation. As alleged in Ms. Lively’s complaint, and as we will prove in litigation, Wayfarer and its associates engaged in unlawful, retaliatory astroturfing against Ms. Lively for simply trying to protect herself and others on a film set,” the statement read in part.
In recent days, both Baldoni and Lively’s attorney have issued statements on the ongoing legal feud.
A trailer for Meghan Markle‘s new lifestyle series has been released.
On Thursday, Netflix released the official trailer for the Duchess of Sussex’s new series, With love, Meghan.
The trailer shows Meghan baking in the kitchen, designing flower arrangements at home and sharing moments with famous friends including Mindy Kaling and Roy Choi.
“I’ve always loved taking something pretty ordinary and elevating it,” Meghan says in the trailer. “Surprising people with moments that let them know I was really thinking of them.”
“I’m going to share some little tips and tricks … and how you can incorporate these practices every day,” she adds in another clip.
According to a press release, the series, which is produced by the Duchess of Sussex, “reimagines the genre of lifestyle programming, blending practical how-to’s and candid conversation with friends, new and old.”
“Meghan shares personal tips and tricks, embracing playfulness over perfection and highlights how easy it can be to create beauty, even in the unexpected,” the press release states. “She and her guests roll up their sleeves in the kitchen, the garden, and beyond, and invite you to do the same.”
Meghan also shared the short trailer in an Instagram post about the series — her second Instagram post on her new @Meghan account — writing in the caption, “I have been so excited to share this with you!”
“I hope you love the show as much as I loved making it,” she added. “Wishing you all a fantastic new year! Thanks to our amazing crew and the team @netflix. Beyond grateful for the support – and fun! As ever, Meghan.”
The new series is the latest produced by Meghan and her husband, Prince Harry, and their production company, Archewell Productions. Michael Steed will serve as the show’s director.
With love, Meghan will be available to stream on Netflix on Jan. 15.
