Misha Green is reuniting with her Lovecraft Country co-star Jurnee Smollett for a DC movie project featuring heroine Black Canary, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.
The project, which is in early development at HBO Max, is a spinoff from Warner Bros.’s 2020 DC movie Birds of Prey which featured characters Harley Quinn, the Huntress, and Cassandra Cain. Also in the cast of heroes was Canary, played by Smollett.
Green will write the script for the feature, with Smollett due to reprise her role. Sur Kroll, who produced Prey, will produce Canary.
Prey was not a strong performer at the box office — it grossed only $201.8 million worldwide when released in Feb. 5, 2020 — but did generate fan interest and had actors who were game to play.
No take on the story was revealed, however Canary is one of DC’s long-standing characters, having been created in the late 1940s. Since the 1960s, she has been associated mostly with Green Arrow and is known for her ear-splitting canary cry.
Canary now joins a growing stable of HBO Max movies centered on DC characters such as Batgirl and Blue Beetle, as well as a series focused on a Black Superman.
Green became one of the hottest creators in town thanks to Lovecraft, which became a buzzy and envelope-pushing series for HBO. When a second season was nixed, Green found plenty of other work, including The Mother, an action thriller starring Jennifer Lopez now in pre-production at Netflix, and significantly a Tomb Raider movie project that she will write and on which she make her feature directorial debut.
Cinelinx first reported the news of a Black Canary project.
The Associated Press is calling on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to end “harassing behavior” by one of his press aides against an AP reporter who received threats and other online abuse
By DAVID BAUDER AP Media Writer
August 20, 2021, 9:28 PM
• 4 min read
NEW YORK — The Associated Press called on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Friday to end “harassing behavior” by one of his press aides against an AP reporter who has received threats and other online abuse.
The request, in a letter from incoming AP CEO Daisy Veerasingham, is part of an effort by the news organization to fight online bullying against journalists, often triggered by public figures. Online harassment and threats of journalists have grown in recent years, prompting many news organizations to speak out.
DeSantis’ press secretary, Christina Pushaw, denied trying to direct the governor’s followers to target the reporter despite using language like “drag them” in a now-deleted tweet.
Pushaw objected to Tuesday’s story by AP’s Tallahassee, Florida-based reporter Brendan Farrington, which pointed out that one of DeSantis’ multimillion-dollar donors invests in a company making the COVID-19 treatment drug Regeneron. DeSantis has been touting the monoclonal antibody treatment throughout the state.
In another tweet, she wrote that if Farrington didn’t change the story, she would “put you on blast.” She also retweeted a message that said “Light. Them. Up.” in reference to the AP.
Early Wednesday, Farrington tweeted that he had received online threats and hate message about the story. “For your sake, I hope government doesn’t threaten your safety. I’ll be fine, I hope. Freedom. Just please don’t kill me.”
Farrington declined to be interviewed for this story.
Brian Carovillano, AP’s vice president and managing editor, said Pushaw’s tweets were particularly egregious because she’s a public servant whose job it is to work with the press.
“There’s pushback, which we fully accept and is a regular facet of being a political reporter or any kind of reporter, and there’s harassment,” Carovillano said. “This is not pushback, it’s harassment. It’s bullying. It’s calling out the trolls at somebody who is just doing his job and it’s putting him and his family at risk.”
Pushaw said her “drag them” comment was social media slang and was not meant as a violent threat. She said she deleted it because she didn’t want it to be misinterpreted.
“As soon as Farrington told me he received threats, I tweeted that nobody should be threatening anyone, that is completely unacceptable,” she said. “I also urged him to report any threats to police.”
Viktorya Vilk, program director for digital safety and free expression at PEN America, said the Urban Dictionary defines “drag them” as to roast (make fun of/mock) someone very hard. Its use seems to imply or encourage people to go on the attack, in a way that’s just shy of being direct, Vilk said.
Pushaw believes AP’s story was unfair and endangers Florida residents.
“The backlash he is receiving is a direct result of his and AP’s decision to cherry pick facts to prop up a false narrative, which sadly puts the lives of your readers at risk,” she said. “If people falsely believe Regeneron — a clinically proven lifesaving treatment — is part of a corruption scheme, they will hesitate to get it, and this causes harm.”
The AP stands by its story.
This past spring, DeSantis supporters objected to a “60 Minutes” story that pointed out DeSantis had received a $100,000 donation from the supermarket chain Publix, which the state was working with to distribute vaccine.
In her letter, Veerasingham asked DeSantis to assure the people of Florida “that there is no place” for Pushaw’s behavior in government. Veerasingham, AP’s vice president and chief operating officer, will become AP’s CEO in January.
Also this past spring, AP said it would study ways to more aggressively fight online harassment of journalists. This came after several AP reporters expressed concern in internal meetings about whether the organization would have its back if they came under online attack.
NEW YORK (AP) — The Associated Press called on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to end “harassing behavior” by one of his press aides against an AP reporter who received threats and other online abuse.
Incoming AP CEO Daisy Veerasingham sent a letter Friday to DeSantis protesting tweets by press secretary Christina Pushaw directed at a Tallahassee, Florida-based reporter in response to a story he wrote pointing out one of DeSantis’ multimillion-dollar donors invests in a company making the COVID-19 treatment drug Regeneron. DeSantis has been touting the monoclonal antibody treatment throughout the state.
In a since-deleted tweet, Pushaw retweeted the article with the message “drag them,” which led to abusive messages being sent to him.
DeSantis should “assure the people of Florida that there is no place” for such behavior in their government, Veerasingham, AP’s vice president and chief operating officer, wrote. She will become AP’s CEO in January.
“While we can disagree about stories, it is unacceptable and dangerous for a public official to encourage the systemic bullying of journalists,” Veerasingham wrote.
Pushaw said she did not mean her “drag them” comment to be taken as a threat, and she deleted it because she realized not everyone would know what it means.
Melissa Joan Hart revealed that she has contracted COVID-19 and is experiencing symptoms, despite being vaccinated.
The Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Melissa & Joey alum took to Instagram on Wednesday to share a video message, noting first off that she “never does videos” but she felt like this particular message was important: “I am vaccinated and I got COVID, and it’s bad,” she explained.
Describing her symptoms, the actress said that she feels a weight on her chest and that it is hard to breathe. “One of my kids I think has it so far and I’m praying that the other ones are okay.” Hart has three sons, Tucker, Braydon and Mason, with husband Mark Wilkerson.
“I’m mad, really mad,” Hart continued in the video. “We took precautions and we cut our exposure by a lot, but we got a little lazy. And I think as a country we got lazy. I’m really mad that my kids didn’t have to wear masks at school. I’m pretty sure that’s where this came from.”
Hart later praised her youngest son for wearing a mask regularly as he was used to it from last year. “If he does get it, I can at least tell him he was a superhero to those in his classroom because he protected his teacher and his classmates from it,” she said.
The actress went on to emphasize that she is “scared” and “sad” and “disappointed” in herself as well as some of the nation’s leaders.
“I just wish I’d done better, so I’m asking you to do better,” she concluded. “Protect your families. Protect your kids. It’s not over yet.”
Hopes were running relatively high on studio lots across Hollywood in June. A true box office recovery seemed within sight. Executives could feel some confidence about their fall releases after having to rearrange their entire calendars at the beginning of the pandemic in spring 2020 and then again during last winter’s surge of COVID-19 cases. But the sense of calm wasn’t to last.
The aggressive delta variant sparked a spike in COVID-19 cases in Los Angeles, some Southern states and now nationwide. Moviegoing comfort levels plummeted in a matter of weeks, according to polls conducted by the National Research Group, waylaying the recovery indefinitely. Overall comfort had been running at a pandemic-era record of 81 percent in early July before starting to fall-off noticeably day after day. As of Aug. 16, the comfort level stood at a worrisome 64 percent.
The response was swift as studios began to blink (again). Paramount announced at the end of July that it was taking the family film Clifford the Big Red Dog off the September calendar. Moms, followed by dads, are particularly nervous about taking their children to the multiplex because those under age 12 are not eligible to get vaccinated, polling shows. And all older females and males, who are a prized demo for fall awards fare, are anxious.
Sony was next, relocating sequel Venom: Let There Be Carnage, starring Tom Hardy, from Sept. 24 to Oct. 15, and then, on Aug. 16, selling off Hotel Transylvania 4: Transformania, which had been set to hit theaters Oct. 1, to Amazon in a windfall $100 million-plus deal. Regarding Venom, there’s buzz that it could move yet again. Either way, Sony has secured some breathing room.
Now, the often-asked question returns: How many other tentpole movies will relocate? Could the list include MGM and EON’s James Bond installment No Time to Die? (It is set to begin opening overseas toward the end of September before landing in the U.S. on Oct. 8.) The film is on the long list of 2020 event pics that have been delayed several times, a nightmare scenario. Sources say No Time to Die may not be able to push yet again at this point, as each restart costs many millions of dollars in marketing. Nor does MGM have a sister streaming service — at least not yet, pending regulatory approval of a deal to be acquired by Amazon.
Says one studio executive: “If I knew six weeks ago what I know now, I would have moved everything as far out as early next year.” A rival colleague adds that he would have said “no” to the chance of another major calendar migration six short weeks ago. “Now, it’s a maybe.”
Other big fall titles include Sony’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife and Paramount’s Tom Cruise actioner Top Gun: Maverick in November.
The impact of the decline in comfort levels throughout July and into August was almost immediate in terms of diminished box office grosses, which never had reached pre-pandemic levels in the first place. Put another way, the casual moviegoer has yet to make a permanent return to the multiplex.
“In traditional times, once a release date is ‘locked,’ then everything else keys off of that, and so studios would only move a film under the most dire or unimaginable scenarios lest the prospects for a solid run in theaters be derailed,” says box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian of Comscore.
Disney and Marvel’s Black Widow debuted to $80.4 million domestically over the July 9-11 weekend, a pandemic-era record. Fellow Disney event pic Jungle Cruise opened to $35 million at the end of last month, followed a week later in early August by The Suicide Squad with just $26.2 million.
All three films were made available in the home immediately, a controversial release model employed by Disney and, to a greater degree, by Warner Bros. because of the pandemic and as both studios try to help grow their sister streaming services. Black Widow and Jungle Cruise could be viewed day-and-date in cinemas on Disney+ Premier Access for an additional $30. Warners’ entire 2021 slate is launching simultaneously on HBO Max, including The Suicide Squad, at no extra charge. (Warners titles have fallen more steeply than Disney’s, with Suicide Squad falling a huge 72 percent in its second weekend, the worst drop in recent memory for a DC superhero title.)
Both companies have made hundreds of talent deals trying to appease talent who would normally receive a piece of the box office backend. Jason Kilar, head of WarnerMedia, has acknowledged publicly that the conglomerate — which AT&T hopes to sell to Discovery — has paid at least $200 million to stars and filmmakers whose films went to HBO Max.
Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Chapek also weighed in on the topic of hybrid releases during an Aug. 12 earnings call. He said “hundreds of deals” have been struck. In a recent lawsuit, however, Black Widow actress Scarlett Johansson alleged that Disney breached her contract by sending the superhero pic to Disney+ Premier Access and didn’t adequately respond to attempts to negotiate.
Warners says it intends to end day-and-date releases in 2022, and will instead abide by a 45-day exclusive window.
Disney committed to giving both Free Guy, which opened in mid-August, and Marvel’s Shang-Chi: The Legend of the Ten Rings, a 45-day exclusive theatrical release, although during an Aug. 12 earnings call, CEO Bob Chapek hinted that the delta variant clouds the landscape for fall releases such as Marvel’s Eternals. (He didn’t mention Eternals by name.) “We’ve said from the very beginning that we value flexibility in being able to make as many last-minute calls as we can, given what we see in the marketplace,” Chapek said. “Nothing is set in stone.”
The far-better-than-expected $28.4 million domestic opening of Free Guy over the Aug. 13-15 weekend did provide a huge boost for stressed-out executives. Many analysts note that an exclusive release on the big screen helped. Males under age 35 — a demo largely undeterred by delta — fueled Free Guy, meaning that movies relying on this group could still perform. (That’s good news for Venom: Let There Be Carnage, for example.)
“We’re at a stage in this long recovery period where I think studios are less intent on big sweeping changes to the release calendar and more focused on short-term adaptations to the market,” says Shawn Robbins of Boxoffice Pro.
“Not only is Free Guy representative of the kind of high-quality movie people are in the mood for and willing to see in cinemas right now, it again showcases demand for that theatrical experience and how important exclusive windows are for the industry’s ability to produce a genuine hit movie with a life cycle that doesn’t burn bright and die young,” Robbins continued. “Nothing is assured in the world we live in right now, and distribution strategies will probably be in flux for a little while, but Free Guy‘s performance so far offers reason for cautious optimism in several of this fall’s planned tentpole releases geared toward similar demographics.”
Overseas remains a hurdle, however, for a studio tentpole dependent on reaping most of its money from the foreign box office, particularly with China presently off-limits to Hollywood titles. Beijing film regulators’ usual blackout on foreign film releases during the peak summer moviegoing period has been stricter and longer than usual in deference to this year’s politically high-profile 100th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party.
Delta also is causing issues in the Middle Kingdom. Beijing’s aggressive “zero COVID” policy means that the broad swaths of the country’s services sector, including cinemas, are at risk of total shutdown the moment a nearby local infection is discovered. “The impact of the ongoing pandemic cannot be understated,” says Rance Pow, president of Artisan Gateway, who notes that nearly 3,500 cinemas recently have been closed in China as a precautionary measure related to delta variant spread.
Many other countries also are being impacted. Both France and Italy now require vaccine passports to attend indoor public spaces, including theaters, which has driven down attendance dramatically. Some major Australian states are in lockdown, while Japan, Korea and Mexico are all reporting record-high COVID-19 cases. And across the international marketplace, there are capacity restrictions. Adds one top film financier, “It’s in everyone’s best interest to move big movies, especially considering where international stands.”
Source: Comscore; box office from Jan. 1 to Aug. 15 each listed year.
Patrick Brzeski contributed to this report.
A version of this story first appeared in the Aug. 18 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
Following those questions, Osaka was in the midst of being asked about preparation for the summer hard court portion of the season and her reaction to what is going on in Haiti following a devastating earthquake. Osaka’s father is a Haiti native, and the tennis superstar said in a tweet Saturday she would give prize money she earns at the Western & Southern Open to Haiti relief efforts.
It was during that portion of the session that Osaka began to wipe her face and pulled her hat down over her eyes. A reporter said, “Sorry,” as Osaka got emotional, to which Osaka replied, “No, you’re super good.”
With Osaka crying, the moderator said they would take a quick break. After a few minutes, Osaka returned to finish the session. She apologized for walking out.
Before this unfolded, Osaka got into an exchange with Paul Daugherty, a reporter from the Cincinnati Enquirer who said, “You’re not crazy about dealing with us, especially in this format. Yet you have a lot of outside interests that are served by having a media platform.”
Osaka’s agent later called the reporter a “bully.”
Following the exchange, Daugherty published a column in which he noted that “in the Zoom format, there’s no room for discussion or nuance,” adding he wasn’t sure whether Osaka understood the question or if it made her uncomfortable. But he praised her response, calling it “honest, thoughtful. . . and unlike any answer I’ve ever gotten in 34 years covering sports in Cincinnati.”
Prior to the Olympics, Osaka’s last time competing was at the French Open in May. Before the start of that tournament, the four-time major champion and world No. 2 said she would not be doing press conferences — knowing she would get fined — citing her mental health.
After a statement from all four major tournaments — the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open — that threatened further punishment, including default from the tournament, Osaka withdrew, revealing she had “suffered long bouts of depression” since winning her first major title in 2018.
‘I’m figuring it out at the same time as you’
After answering back-to-back questions regarding news conferences, this is the exchange that occurred between columnist Daugherty and Osaka:
Daugherty: “You’re not crazy about dealing with us, especially in this format. Yet you have a lot of outside interests that are served by having a media platform. I guess my question is how do you balance the two? And also do you have anything you’d like to share with us about what you did say to Simone Biles?” (Earlier in the press conference, Osaka said she had sent a message to Biles but said she wanted to give her space, “because I know how overwhelming it can feel.”)
Osaka: “When you say I’m not crazy about dealing with you guys, what does that refer to?”
Daugherty: “Well, you’ve said you don’t especially like the press conference format, yet that seems to be obviously the most widely used means of communication to the media and through the media to the public.”
Osaka: “That’s interesting. I would say the occasion, like when to do the press conferences what I feel is the most difficult.”
Osaka then paused, saying she was thinking. The moderator suggested moving on and asked Osaka if she wanted to take the next question.
Osaka: “No. I’m very actually interested in that point of view. So if you could repeat that, that would be awesome.”
Daugherty: “The question was that you’re not especially fond of dealing with the media, especially in this format. You have suggested there are better ways to do it, that we’d like to try to explore that. My question, I guess, was you also have outside interests beyond tennis that are served by having the platform that the media presents to you. My question is how do you think you might be able to best balance the two?”
Osaka: “I feel like this is something that I can’t really speak for everybody. I can only speak for myself, but ever since I was younger I’ve had a lot of media interest on me, and I think it’s because of my background as well as how I play. Because in the first place I’m a tennis player. That’s why a lot of people are interested in me.
“I would say in that regard I’m quite different to a lot of people. I can’t really help that there are some things that I tweet or some things that I say that kind of create a lot of news articles or things like that. I know it’s because I’ve won a couple grand slams and I’ve gotten to do a lot of press conferences where these things happen.
“But I would also say I’m not really sure how to balance the two. I’m figuring it out at the same time as you are I would say.”
After that, while Osaka was receiving the next set of questions from a tennis journalist regarding preparation and Haiti did Osaka show visible emotion.
Osaka’s agent, Stuart Duguid, said in a statement: “The bully at the Cincinnati Enquirer is the epitome of why player / media relations are so fraught right now. Everyone on that Zoom will agree that his tone was all wrong and his sole purpose was to intimidate. Really appalling behavior. And this insinuation that Naomi owes her off court success to the media is a myth — don’t be so self-indulgent.”
CNN has reached out to Daugherty for comment.
‘There’s people that I don’t know that well that ask me really, really sensitive questions’
Before the exchange with Daugherty, a reporter asked Osaka if there was any advice she could give reporters on how they can help make it a better experience for athletes going through difficult losses and moments while asking questions during press conferences.
“For me, I feel like most of the time — this is just me as a person — I’m pretty open when it comes to press conferences,” Osaka said. “I feel like I’ve been that way my whole life. There are times where I would say there’s people that I don’t know that well that ask me really, really sensitive questions. And then especially after a loss, that kind of amplifies a bit.
“I would say like even repetitive questions, like questions we’ve been asked before, but maybe you guys weren’t there at the previous press conference. Just like maybe read transcripts. I’m not a professional in press conferences or anything, but, just to make it a bit more of a friendlier experience, I would say.”
She also gave the suggestion of a player taking a “sick day.”
“We get fined if we don’t do press conferences but sometimes we feel really sad,” Osaka said. “I feel like maybe there should be a rule that we could maybe take a sick day from that and maybe respond to you guys in emails and things like that. I feel like it would be kind of fair but then again I’m only speaking from my side and I don’t know how your guys’ whole (referencing the media) — I guess maybe you want to capture us when we’re straight off the court as well, so I’m not sure what’s fair.”
Regarding Haiti, Osaka said, “It’s really scary. I see the news every day. Honestly, the earthquake was kind of close to my parents’ school there. I’m honestly not really sure how that’s doing, and I haven’t seen any pictures or video of it yet.”
At the 2020 Western & Southern Open — held at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York instead of the Cincinnati area — Osaka was the runner-up after withdrawing because of a hamstring injury. She would go on to win the US Open.
On Monday night, the stars of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings gathered in Hollywood to celebrate the upcoming Marvel Studios tentpole. But in an unusual set of circumstances for the Disney-owned studio, the premiere came just 48 hours after its lead, Simu Liu, took aim at Disney CEO Bob Chapek, who had described Shang-Chi‘s release strategy as an “experiment” for the company.
Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige addressed the tweet during the premiere, saying of Liu: “He is not a shy man. I think in that particular tweet you can see and I think everyone does, a misunderstanding. It was not the intention. The proof is in the movie and we swing for the fences as we always do. With the amount of creative energy we put in and the budget, there’s no expense spared to bring this origin story to the screen.”
On Aug. 12, Disney CEO Bob Chapek fielded a question during an investor’s call about keeping Shang-Chi and Free Guy as theatrical exclusives rather than putting the day-and-date on Disney Premier Access, as the company had done with Black Widow, Cruella and Jungle Cruise. Chapek called Shang-Chi “an interesting experiment for us” as the film only has a 45-day theatrical window. He added, “the prospect of being able to take a Marvel title to the service after going theatrical with 45 days will be yet another data point to inform our actions going forward on our titles.”
On Aug. 14, Liu responded to that comment via a statement on Twitter. “We are not an experiment,” Liu began. “We are the underdog; the underestimated. We are the ceiling-breakers. We are the celebration of culture and joy that will persevere after an embattled year. We are the surprise. I’m fired the f**k up to make history on September 3rd; JOIN US.”
Feige also noted that Shang-Chi‘s premiere had a similarly impactful feel to that of Black Panther‘s celebrations. “When you have the opportunity to showcase a hero that looks like a huge segment of the globe that feels like they haven’t been showcased, the magic can happen if you deliver. I think Destin (Daniel Cretton) and Simu have delivered for this movie.”
Feige added that he noticed a superhero quality in Liu after “a lot of reads, a lot of auditions” adding “there’s no magic formula” in finding the right person for a Marvel hero. “It’s a feeling. It’s a sense of both the ability to be relatable and grounded and, at the same time, take your place in that pantheon of heroes should everything go so well in an origin story they will end up with the other pandemic heroes.”
As for what could potentially be next for Liu’s Shang-Chi, Feige noted “there is a direct line of where he heads to next.”
Shang-Chi is a barrier-breaking film for Marvel, as it is the studio’s first to star a largely Asian cast. It also stars Tony Leung, Awkwafina, Michelle Yeoh, Fala Chen, Meng’er Zhang, Florian Munteanu and Ronny Chieng.
Liu’s comments came as another Disney star was at odds with the company, which is in the midst of a bombshell lawsuit with Black Widow star Scarlett Johansson, who is suing over Disney’s decision to release the Marvel title simultaneously in theaters and on Disney+ Premier Access. The actor claimed the move hurt the box office in favor of juicing Disney’s streaming service.
Marvels’ Feige addressed the lawsuit at the premiere, noting he is “all for amicable solutions.”
Scarlett Johansson is going from the worlds of Marvel to the world of Wes Anderson.
The Black Widow star is the latest big name to join the filmmaker’s new movie, currently before cameras in Spain.
The movie has the usual repertoire of Anderson thespians — Adrien Brody, Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Tilda Swinton — but it also has high profile newcomers, Margot Robbie and Tom Hanks, among them. Rupert Friend is also on the roll call.
Plot details for the feature, which Anderson wrote and is directing, are being kept under wraps and Johansson’s character details were not revealed.
Anderson is expected to wrap shooting in late September, just in time to see the opening of his latest movie, The French Dispatch, in October via Searchlight.
This isn’t the first time Johansson has worked with Anderson, but it will be her first in front of the camera. She previously lent her voice for the auteur’s 2018 stop-motion animated picture, Isle of Dogs.
The actress, who scored double Oscar nominations in 2020 for Marriage Story and Jojo Rabbit, is coming off of the superhero stand-alone Black Widow, which inspired a lawsuit against Disney that alleges that her contract was breached when the Marvel movie was released on Disney+ day-and-date.
Johnny Depp says he feels he is being boycotted by Hollywood as his latest film, Minamata, has yet to be released in the United States, calling his fall from Hollywood graces as an “absurdity of media mathematics.”
Discussing the film in a new interview with The Sunday Times, Depp discussed the “surreal five years” he has experienced during his fallout from the Hollywood community.
Depp stars in the movie as W Eugene Smith, an American photojournalist who helped expose the devastating impact of mercury poisoning on coastal communities in Japan in the 1970s.
In the wake of the actor losing a libel case against British tabloid The Sun, which referred to the actor as a “wife-beater” in an article about Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard, MGM reportedly shelved the release of the Andrew Levitas-directed project. Depp was also forced to exit Warner Bros.’ Fantastic Beasts franchise last year after he lost the case.
Depp said he “looked those people in the eyeballs and promised we would not be exploitative. That the film would be respectful. I believe that we’ve kept our end of the bargain, but those who came in later should also maintain theirs.”
The 58-year-old actor also addressed his standing in the film industry, saying, “Some films touch people and this affects those in Minamata and people who experience similar things. And for anything … for Hollywood’s boycott of me? One man, one actor in an unpleasant and messy situation, over the last number of years?”
Depp noted that he is “moving towards where I need to go to make all that … to bring things to light.”
The libel case was part of a series of problems for Depp. Still, he has supporters in the industry. The San Sebastian and Karlovy Vary Film Festivals recently doubled down on their decisions to honor the controversial star despite being criticized for the decisions. The San Sebastian film festival announced this week it would honor Depp with its Donostia Award, a lifetime achievement honor that recognizes “outstanding contributions to the film world.”
The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the Czech Republic also said it would celebrate the Pirates of the Caribbean star and “recognize and pay tribute to the acclaimed actor’s extensive career and lasting legacy on the film industry globally.”
The first of two New York City shows for Louis C.K.’s 2021 national tour was a sold-out evening unmarred by any crowd or protest controversy — a drastically different response to the disgraced comedian’s stage presence at one of his last major shows in the city several years ago.
The Aug. 13 show was a noticeably standard affair, with thousands of energized attendees buzzing as they made their way through various COVID, security and ticket lines at Madison Square Garden on their way to the Hulu Theater. Security also seemed relatively typical of most MSG events on Friday, despite previous protests against the comedian during an October 2018 performance at the Comedy Cellar. One extra security element was the Yonder pouches, in which attendees were asked to place their phones and other electronic devices, to prevent recordings of the performance.
The set featured three openers — Lynne Koplitz, Jaye McBride and Greer Barnes — whose brief appearances covered everything from gaining weight during the pandemic to anti-trans family members to the subtle racism in the scientific naming of bees. The comedians took the stage upwards of 30 minutes before C.K. appeared, walking on after a blackout to a standing ovation — which he was also given at the end of a show, though that one featured a smattering of guffaws from some attendees and definitive silence from others.
Though he never directly addressed his sexual misconduct allegations in the hour-long set — a pivot from his last set of Comedy Cellar appearances in which he opened one with a joke asking the audience “How was your year?” — elements of his show did seem to speak to it, both appropriately and inappropriately.
At one point, C.K. mused about the responsibility of recognizing when it’s your time to die, with grace, and at another point, discussed having a plan for life, making choices and it “going to shit” or, in the case where you get what you want, still not liking it. “So when life comes along and just goes ‘Fuck you,’… that’s when life gets interesting.”
Despite never quite saying anything outright — beyond the brightly towering “SORRY” sign that served as his backdrop for the entire show — the set seemingly featured both moments of total self-awareness about the cloud hanging over him and a complete lack thereof. The latter appeared most during the set’s sexualized jokes, which kicked off with the announcement of his favorite sex position before evolving into a semi-lengthy bit about pedophiles — including “every man’s fear” of being seen as a “kid fucker.” Other bits focused on young girl’s panties, having sex with younger women, the desirability of his penis and hopping in a male stranger’s van to perform sexual acts.
Beyond that, the set covered a number of more timely topics with varying degrees of empathy and maturity. Among a wide range of subjects like the Boy Scouts, grocery shopping in the pandemic, and 9/11, were jokes about last year’s social justice protests and efforts to defund the police, pandemic deaths and mask-wearing, fatphobia in medicine, as well a host of LGBTQ issues — including a bit towards the end in which he conflates (or confuses) fluid gender identity with fluid sexuality before dropping a slur. Stuffed between all of this was material around what his dog is thinking, growing grey hair and his least favorite scene in Good Will Hunting — which doubled as a meta-conversation about the act of stand-up.
C.K.’s return to the stage could best be summed up by one attendee’s comment as they exited the theater: “That’s going to piss off half of his fan base.” It also marks one in a series of attempted comebacks after numerous sexual misconduct allegations from at least five women that emerged in 2017, amid the early height of the #MeToo movement. The allegations, which included C.K. masturbating in front of several women and fellow comedians, resulted in him losing multiple TV and film deals after studios and networks, including FX Networks, Netflix and Universal Pictures, cut ties with him. C.K. admitted to the allegations, which were first published in The New York Times, in a statement, writing, “These stories are true.”
During the 53-year-old actor and comedian’s previous attempt at a comeback in New York during October 2018, at least one among a handful of performances at the Comedy Cellar was met with protestors, who held signs that both referenced C.K.’s behavior and shamed him, with statements like, “Does this sign make you uncomfortable, Louie?” That set followed a previous surprise appearance in August at the same venue, which C.K. frequented and even featured in his former FX show Louie. That performance was also met with social media backlash.
While no protestors or hecklers appeared during the first night of C.K.’s two-day New York City leg, there have been rumblings of either planned or potential protests in other cities, including Madison, Wisconsin, which saw the comedian perform across five nights towards the end of July. Those performances were not a part of his national tour, which C.K. announced on Aug. 4.
