‘They don’t have imaginations’: Jason Sudeikis criticizes viewers who weren’t into ‘Ted Lasso’ season 3
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While the third season of Apple TV’s Ted Lasso earned a show-best 21 Emmy nominations, it left some fans flat.
However, show star and co-creator Jason Sudeikis isn’t hearing it.
TV Line got a peek at Believe: The Untold Story Behind Ted Lasso, the Show That Kicked Its Way Into Our Hearts, an oral history of the footy phenomenon, in which author Jeremy Egner asked Sudeikis and company about some fans’ gripes.
Specifically, that the third — and potentially last — season was “unfocused,” and its beloved cast was “scattered into different storylines.”
But Sudeikis kicked back: “Much like live theater, the show, especially Season 3, was asking the audience to be an active participant. Some people want to do that, some people don’t. Some people want to judge — they don’t want to be curious.”
He continued, “I’ll never understand people who will go on talking about something so brazenly that they, in my opinion, clearly don’t understand. And God bless ’em for it; it’s not their fault. They don’t have imaginations and they’re not open to the experience of what it’s like to have one.”
Sudeikis insists of the characters, “Everybody’s in better shape than when they started. Like a good Boy or Girl Scout at a campsite, we left it better than we found it. And if you don’t see that in that show, then I don’t know what show you’re watching.”
As for a fourth season of the hit show, it remains to be seen if the cast returns to the pitch.
Blake Lively‘s lawyers have issued a statement amid the ongoing legal feud between her and Justin Baldoni.
In the new statement, released Jan. 7, Lively’s lawyers said, “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, issued on Lively’s behalf, also claimed that Baldoni’s response — his lawsuit filed Dec. 31 against The New York Times — was allegedly meant to “launch more attacks against Ms. Lively since her filing.”
The statement continued, “While we go through the legal process, we urge everyone to remember that sexual harassment and retaliation are illegal in every workplace and in every industry. A classic tactic to distract from allegations of this type of misconduct is to ‘blame the victim’ by suggesting that they invited the conduct, brought it on themselves, misunderstood the intentions, or even lied. Another classic tactic is to reverse the victim and offender, and suggest that the offender is actually the victim.”
“These concepts normalize and trivialize allegations of serious misconduct,” the statement concluded. “Most importantly, media statements are not a defense to Ms. Lively’s legal claims. We will continue to prosecute her claims in federal court, where the rule of law determines who prevails, not hyperbole and threats.”
The statement from Lively’s camp comes after Baldoni sued the New York Times for libel and false light invasion of privacy for publishing a story detailing Lively’s initial claims against him, including sexual harassment and orchestrating a smear campaign against Lively during the production of the film It Ends with Us, which Baldoni also directed and starred in with Lively. The lawsuit came after Lively’s initial complaint, filed Dec. 20, and subsequent lawsuit, filed Dec. 31, against Baldoni.
In a statement to Good Morning America addressing Lively’s latest comments, Bryan Freedman, an attorney for Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios, said, “It is painfully ironic that Blake Lively is accusing Justin Baldoni of weaponizing the media when her own team orchestrated this vicious attack by sending the New York Times grossly edited documents prior to even filing the complaint. We are releasing all of the evidence which will show a pattern of bullying and threats to take over the movie. None of this will come as a surprise because consistent with her past behavior Blake Lively used other people to communicate those threats and bully her way to get whatever she wanted. We have all the receipts and more.”
Read more about the legal battle between Lively and Baldoni below.
Lively’s initial complaint
Lively first filed a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department in late December, alleging “severe emotional distress” after she said Baldoni and key stakeholders in the film sexually harassed her and attempted, along with Baldoni’s production company, to orchestrate a smear campaign against her.
The complaint was detailed in a New York Times article titled “‘We Can Bury Anyone’: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine.” Included in the report were details surrounding a January 2024 “all hands” meeting — held “prior to resuming filming of It Ends With Us,” according to the complaint — that was held to address Lively’s workplace 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 that meeting to ensure a safe and professional working environment.
Lively claimed Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer Studios, which produced It Ends With Us, then engaged in a “social manipulation” campaign to “destroy” Lively’s reputation, according to the complaint. The complaint included alleged texts from Baldoni’s publicist to a Wayfarer publicist, who allegedly wrote that Baldoni “wants to feel like [Ms. Lively] can be buried,” and “We can’t write we will destroy her.”
Freedman, the attorney for Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios, denied the allegations.
“These claims are completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media,” Freedman said in a statement to ABC News at the time, in response to Lively’s initial complaint. He claimed Lively’s complaint was “yet another desperate attempt to ‘fix her negative reputation which was garnered from her own remarks and actions during the campaign for the film […].”
Lively was criticized during the It Ends with Us tour for her conduct during press interviews and from some who felt she did not highlight the film’s focus of domestic violence enough.
Baldoni’s lawsuit against The New York Times
On Dec. 31, Baldoni filed a lawsuit against the Times for libel and false light invasion of privacy, after it published the article about Lively’s complaint.
The lawsuit claimed the Times, which included the alleged text messages and email exchanges between Baldoni’s publicists Jennifer Abel and Melissa Nathan, had relied on “cherry-picked” and altered communications, with details “stripped of necessary context and deliberately spliced” to “mislead.”
Baldoni is seeking $250 million in damages in his suit against the Times and also listed nine other co-plaintiffs, including Wayfarer Studios LLC and his publicists, Abel and Nathan.
Freedman claimed in a statement to GMA that the Times “cowered to the wants and whims of two powerful ‘untouchable’ Hollywood elites, disregarding journalistic practices and ethics once befitting of the revered publication by using doctored and manipulated texts and intentionally omitting texts which dispute their chosen PR narrative.”
A Times spokesperson told GMA that they “plan to vigorously defend against the lawsuit.”
“The role of an independent news organization is to follow the facts where they lead. Our story was meticulously and responsibly reported,” the spokesperson continued. “It 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.”
“To date, Wayfarer Studios, Mr. Baldoni, the other subjects of the article and their representatives have not pointed to a single error,” the spokesperson claimed. “We published their full statement in response to the allegations in the article as well.”
Lively files lawsuit against Baldoni and other defendants for sexual harassment
Also on Dec. 31, Lively formalized her initial California Civil Rights Department complaint into a lawsuit, which reiterated details she previously presented in her complaint.
Attorneys for Lively said in a statement that the actress’s “decision to speak out has resulted in further retaliation and attacks.”
“As alleged in Ms. Lively’s federal Complaint, Wayfarer and its associates have violated federal and California state law by retaliating against her for reporting sexual harassment and workplace safety concerns,” Lively’s attorneys claimed. “Now, the defendants will answer for their conduct in federal court. Ms. Lively has brought this litigation in New York, where much of the relevant activities described in the Complaint took place, but we reserve the right to pursue further action in other venues and jurisdictions as appropriate under the law.”
Both Baldoni and Lively are seeking a jury trial.
GMA has reached out to Baldoni’s rep for comment about Lively’s lawsuit.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the short lists in 10 award categories on Tuesday: best documentary feature film, best documentary short film, best international feature film, best original score, best original song, best makeup and hairstyling, best visual effects, best animated short film, best live action short film and best sound.
Some of the films on the short lists that may receive nominations at the 97th Academy Awards include Emilia Pérez, Dune: Part Two, Mufasa: The Lion King, Gladiator II and Wicked.
Ahead of the official Oscar nominations announcement on Jan. 17, each short list was determined by members of each corresponding branch, except for international feature film and live action short film lists. For those two categories, Academy members from all branches who have “met a minimum viewing requirement” were invited to participate in the preliminary round of voting.
The 2025 Oscars will take place Sunday, March 2. The ceremony will air live from the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on ABC and, for the first time ever, stream live on Hulu.
See the short lists for best documentary feature, best international feature and best visual effects below:
Best documentary feature film The Bibi Files Black Box Diaries Dahomey Daughters Eno Frida Hollywoodgate No Other Land Porcelain War Queendom The Remarkable Life of Ibelin Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat Sugarcane Union Will & Harper
Best international feature film Brazil, I’m Still Here Canada, Universal Language Czech Republic, Waves Denmark, The Girl with the Needle France, Emilia Pérez Germany, The Seed of the Sacred Fig Iceland, Touch Ireland, Kneecap Italy, Vermiglio Latvia, Flow Norway, Armand Palestine, From Ground Zero Senegal, Dahomey Thailand, How to Make Millions before Grandma Dies United Kingdom, Santosh
Best visual effects Alien: Romulus Better Man Civil War Deadpool & Wolverine Dune: Part Two Gladiator II Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Mufasa: The Lion King Twisters Wicked
Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images for Celebrity Fight Night
The death of Grammy-winning producer Quincy Jones has been met with tributes from many, including LL Cool J, Colman Domingo and Victoria Monét.
“You were a father and example at a time when I truly needed a father and example. Mentor. Role model. King. You gave me opportunities and shared wisdom,” LL wrote. “Music would not be music without you. My condolences to the entire family. I love you. Rest in the sweetest music eternally. #ripquincyjones one of one.”
Colman recalled the first time he met Quincy. “He asked, where are you from? Philly I replied, his eyes twinkled and he talked about the Uptown Theater,” Colman shared on X. “I was so thrilled to meet Mr. American Music himself. I literally kneeled because he was a King. Thank you Mr. Quincy Jones for giving us all the sound.”
In Victoria’s post, she wrote that Quincy was “one of my biggest inspirations!” She added, “Quincy I love you so much!!! Your legacy will live on forever and ever. Heaven definitely got an upgrade with you.”
Sheryl Lee Ralph also honored Quincy, praising him for “a life well lived.” Actor Robert David said he’s devastated by the news of Quincy’s death, remembering him for his “Genius , Heart , Talent , Inspiration , Support , Encouragement.”
