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Ben Affleck uses sweater to hide ring finger from paps amid Jennifer Lopez marital woesAffleck knew he was being watched but did not interact with the photographers. His son, however, decided to pap the paps himself.
Hims & Hers will sell knock-off Ozempic for $199 — and it won’t be approved by FDAThe telehealth company is hoping to meet the demand for the extremely popular drugs.
Officer disciplined for not using body cam while Scottie Scheffler allegedly dragged him with carThe police officer who arrested world No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler outside the PGA Championship has been disciplined for not using his body camera during the incident.
Luis Gil dominates again in Yankees’ win over MarinersIt was the latest terrific outing by the 25-year-old, who set a franchise rookie record with 14 strikeouts in his previous outing.
Biden grumbles press ‘never keep the deal’ during confused news conference with Kenya leaderWASHINGTON — President Biden lambasted the White House press corps Thursday — complaining that reporters “never keep the deal” when a journalist asked a second question at a joint press conference with Kenyan President William Ruto. The 81-year-old Biden repeatedly flashed confusion and irritation at the 32-minute event and mistakenly referred to his vice president...
Biden grumbles press ‘never keep the deal’ during confused news conference with Kenya leaderWASHINGTON — President Biden lambasted the White House press corps Thursday — complaining that reporters “never keep the deal” when a journalist asked a second question at a joint press conference with Kenyan President William Ruto. The 81-year-old Biden repeatedly flashed confusion and irritation at the 32-minute event and mistakenly referred to his vice president...
Four Seasons Orlando baby’s family discusses viral fame: exclusiveShe won over millions with her mature disposition, posh mannerisms, and affinity for luxury travel. 13-month-old Kate, better known online as the “Four Seasons Orlando Baby,” went viral overnight thanks to a video of her mom asking if she, her 4-year-old sister, and her dad wanted to go to the luxurious Florida resort. Kate’s enthusiastic...
Four Seasons Orlando baby’s family discusses viral fame: exclusiveShe won over millions with her mature disposition, posh mannerisms, and affinity for luxury travel. 13-month-old Kate, better known online as the “Four Seasons Orlando Baby,” went viral overnight thanks to a video of her mom asking if she, her 4-year-old sister, and her dad wanted to go to the luxurious Florida resort. Kate’s enthusiastic...
What’s Memorial Day like for the children left behind?Whether their parents died in Iraq, Vietnam or Europe, Gold Star children have a lifetime of grief that Americans should honor, too.
The week in whoppers: The BBC goes to bat for Raisi, Mayorkas pushes border BS and moreWhy is the BBC running interference for a brutal Islamist dictator?
Biden claims ‘We leave no veteran behind’ — but vets bemoan that’s not always the caseAn outcry of veterans and critics came forward and highlighted the bevy of American warriors who have been forsaken both on the battlefield and at home.
Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The 1% Club’ on Prime Video, A Patton Oswalt-Hosted Game Show Testing Contestants’ Logic And Reasoning, Not Trivia KnowledgePatton Oswalt hosts this new show that's impossible not to play along with.
Supreme Court's Contradicting Its Own Rulings, Justices SayThe Supreme Court ruled on Thursday to uphold lower-court decisions on sentencing requirements for firearm convictions.
Celine Dion ‘almost died’ amid stiff person syndrome battle, Hoda Kotb reveals ahead of interviewKotb said that the singer told her that she "almost died" and didn't think she was going to make it while battling stiff person syndrome.
102 and 100 year-old-couple throw surprise wedding of the centennialCongratulations are in order for newlyweds Marjorie Fiterman, age 102, and Bernie Littman, age 100, of Philadelphia, who just got married on Sunday, May 19, at the senior living facility where they first met.
102 and 100 year-old-couple throw surprise wedding of the centennialCongratulations are in order for newlyweds Marjorie Fiterman, age 102, and Bernie Littman, age 100, of Philadelphia, who just got married on Sunday, May 19, at the senior living facility where they first met.
Political consultant allegedly behind fake Biden robocall indictedNew Hampshire's attorney general announced Thursday that Steve Kramer was indicted on 26 charges in the state and the FCC said he had been fined $6 million.
NJ deputy mayor resigns over post calling Pine Barrens residents – aka ‘Pineys’ – ‘inbred imbeciles’The deputy mayor of a south New Jersey town has resigned over a social media post in which she slammed so-called “pineys” — a term describing folks from the Pine Barrens region — as “mentally deficient, inbred imbeciles,” according to officials.
Bronx residents weigh in on Trump’s chances of winning the 2024 presidential electionThe Post took to the streets ahead of Donald Trump’s rally in the Bronx to get reactions to the 45th president’s first major campaign event in his birth state for eight years — and to see what kind of traction the Republican’s message might get in a borough that hasn’t gone for the GOP in...
Bronx residents weigh in on Trump’s chances of winning the 2024 presidential electionThe Post took to the streets ahead of Donald Trump’s rally in the Bronx to get reactions to the 45th president’s first major campaign event in his birth state for eight years — and to see what kind of traction the Republican’s message might get in a borough that hasn’t gone for the GOP in...
Trump and GOP repeatedly echo Nazi and far-right ideology as they aim to retake White HouseA video on former President Trump's Truth Social mentioned a 'unified Reich' under a second Trump term. Critics were quick to pounce.
Serial Killer Robert Pickton Clings to Life After 'Major Attack' in PrisonA notorious serial killer clings to life after he was brutally attacked inside a Canadian federal prison by other inmates earlier this week.
Dissenting Justice Kagan Appears to Shade Alito for Flying Upside-Down FlagJacquelyn Martin/Getty ImagesJustice Elena Kagan seemed to take a subtle swing at her conservative Supreme Court counterpart Samuel Alito in her dissent to a ruling issued Thursday morning.The case, which was split 6-3 in its decision, was over a gerrymandered election map in South Carolina that a lower court had ruled as discriminatory towards Black voters. The Supreme Court’s decision Thursday reversed that ruling, finding no bias toward Black voters in MAGA Rep. Nancy Mace’s (R-SC) district.Alito, writing for the conservative majority, said the plaintiff NAACP brought no significant evidence of racial bias in the map’s redistricting. He claimed they “did not offer a single alternative map” that would’ve redistricted the zone according to politics without also depressing Black voting power.Read more at The Daily Beast.
Dissenting Justice Kagan Appears to Shade Alito for Flying Upside-Down FlagJacquelyn Martin/Getty ImagesJustice Elena Kagan seemed to take a subtle swing at her conservative Supreme Court counterpart Samuel Alito in her dissent to a ruling issued Thursday morning.The case, which was split 6-3 in its decision, was over a gerrymandered election map in South Carolina that a lower court had ruled as discriminatory towards Black voters. The Supreme Court’s decision Thursday reversed that ruling, finding no bias toward Black voters in MAGA Rep. Nancy Mace’s (R-SC) district.Alito, writing for the conservative majority, said the plaintiff NAACP brought no significant evidence of racial bias in the map’s redistricting. He claimed they “did not offer a single alternative map” that would’ve redistricted the zone according to politics without also depressing Black voting power.Read more at The Daily Beast.
Construction Wraps Up on the World's Most Expensive ArenaThe Intuit Dome in Los Angeles is packed with technology that its developers hope will redefine the fan experience. Here's a look inside.
Off-duty LAPD officer charged with assault with a deadly weaponSix-year L.A. police veteran Richard Podkowski, 28, was arrested Tuesday and charged with assault with a deadly weapon near LAX.
‘Man in finance?’ Stylists say it’s time to elevate your ‘bro style’It's about to be 'finance bro' summer. But, are the 'bros' dressed for the occasion?
Kate Middleton Artist Reveals the Truth Behind That PortraitPhoto Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/Reuters/TatlerThe artist whose portrait of Kate Middleton has been roundly derided as amateurish and lacking any resemblance to Kate herself has said her intention was to capture the Princess of Wales’ “soul.”Hannah Uzor told Tatler magazine, who commissioned the portrait for its July cover: “It’s really important to capture the soul of the person, so I spent a lot of time looking [at Kate], looking at her pictures, watching videos of her, seeing her with her family, seeing her in diplomatic visits, seeing her when she’s rowing or visiting children in a hospice. It’s been really interesting for me to get a sense of who she is.”Readers responding to her explanatory video continued to rubbish the picture—in which “Kate” is seen in a white floor-length Jenny Packham evening dress she wore in 2022—saying it bore no likeness to its subject. Read more at The Daily Beast.
Kate Middleton Artist Reveals the Truth Behind That PortraitPhoto Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/Reuters/TatlerThe artist whose portrait of Kate Middleton has been roundly derided as amateurish and lacking any resemblance to Kate herself has said her intention was to capture the Princess of Wales’ “soul.”Hannah Uzor told Tatler magazine, who commissioned the portrait for its July cover: “It’s really important to capture the soul of the person, so I spent a lot of time looking [at Kate], looking at her pictures, watching videos of her, seeing her with her family, seeing her in diplomatic visits, seeing her when she’s rowing or visiting children in a hospice. It’s been really interesting for me to get a sense of who she is.”Readers responding to her explanatory video continued to rubbish the picture—in which “Kate” is seen in a white floor-length Jenny Packham evening dress she wore in 2022—saying it bore no likeness to its subject. Read more at The Daily Beast.
Dow plunges over 600 points as Wall Street worries rates will stay highThe weakness was widespread and overshadowed another blowout profit report from market heavyweight Nvidia.
Demi Moore Is Back With One of the Best—and Wildest—Movies of Her CareerAt a nutty Cannes, the nuttiest movie earned the longest ovation.
House lawmakers flunk ‘so-called’ university presidents over spike in campus antisemitismA House education panel gave “so-called” university presidents failing grades on Thursday for allowing antisemitic encampments to spread on their campuses this spring — part of demonstrations which in some cases blocked Jewish students from entering school buildings and disrupted final exams. Northwestern University President Michael Schill, Rutgers University President Jonathan Holloway and UCLA Chancellor...
House lawmakers flunk ‘so-called’ university presidents over spike in campus antisemitismA House education panel gave “so-called” university presidents failing grades on Thursday for allowing antisemitic encampments to spread on their campuses this spring — part of demonstrations which in some cases blocked Jewish students from entering school buildings and disrupted final exams. Northwestern University President Michael Schill, Rutgers University President Jonathan Holloway and UCLA Chancellor...
‘Heat Dome’ Leads to Sweltering Temperatures in Mexico, Central America and U.S.Extreme heat has left millions in sweltering temperatures, strained energy grids and resulted in Howler monkeys dropping dead in Mexico.
The Question the World Needs to Ask About the Middle East Right NowIf the Middle East is a puzzle, it’s one that grew even harder to imagine ever clicking together as the evening of May 19 gave way to May 20. In the space of 24 hours, the President of Iran was killed, and the Prime Minister of Israel learned that a warrant for his arrest for…
The Question the World Needs to Ask About the Middle East Right NowIf the Middle East is a puzzle, it’s one that grew even harder to imagine ever clicking together as the evening of May 19 gave way to May 20. In the space of 24 hours, the President of Iran was killed, and the Prime Minister of Israel learned that a warrant for his arrest for…
Say their names: With Biden mum on Hamas’ US hostages, Trump can champion their causeHersh. Keith. Sagui. Edan. Omer. Theirs should be household names across the United States. But they’re not, and the fault lies with President Biden.
Why King Charles and Prince William suddenly canceled their upcoming royal engagementsRecent developments in UK politics forced King Charles and Prince William to make some last-minute changes to their royal schedules.
More than 1,800 congressmen once enslaved Black people. This is who they were, and how they shaped the nation.The Washington Post has compiled the first database of slaveholding members of Congress by examining thousands of pages of census records and historical documents.
At least 10 hospitalized when 11-year-old NYC student unleashes pepper spray in school cafeteriaThe unidentified minor sprayed the noxious gas inside PS 219 in Queens on Thursday morning, sources the The Post.
TikTok has turned into GoFundMe for the cash-strapped: ‘Instead of money, the currency is attention’"In order for TikTok to pay off my student loans in one fell swoop, I would need 247 million people to watch this video for five seconds."
Burglars beware: Police are using 'bait houses' in this wealthy California townFaced with an uptick in home burglaries, police in Atherton decided to plant traps to snare burglars.
Schumer-backed border bill fails a second time with even less Dem supportSenators rejected a border bill backed by Schumer and some Democrats that Republicans claimed would be "worse than doing nothing."
Biden moves to designate Kenya as a major non-NATO allyPresident Biden on Thursday announced his intent to designate Kenya as a major non-NATO U.S. ally, the first such designation for a sub-Saharan African country.
Bella Hadid makes a statement in keffiyeh dress at Cannes: ‘Free Palestine forever’The supermodel headed out for ice cream on Thursday while wearing a vintage outfit fashioned from an Arab garment known as a keffiyeh.
Trump’s Bronx rally live updates: Ex-prez expected to speak on NY’s economy, migrant crisisDonald Trump is holding an NYC campaign rally on Thursday at Crotona Park in the Bronx, one of the most Democratic counties in the US. Follow the Post’s live updates for the latest news on Trump’s speech and scheduled protests.
Beyoncé’s Latest Lawsuit Claims She Stole Lyrics for ‘Break My Soul’Michael Buckner/Getty ImagesBeyoncé is still riding high off the release of her country-inspired album Cowboy Carter, but this week, she was hit with a copyright infringement lawsuit that may put a damper on her summer.The superstar has been accused of using a sample in “Break My Soul”—the lead single off 2022’s Renaissance—that allegedly infringes upon the copyright of a 2002 track by Da Showstoppaz called “Release a Wiggle.”“Break My Soul” interpolates the song “Explode” by New Orleans artist Big Freedia, who is also named in the lawsuit. The suit was filed by the original members of Da Showstoppaz, who say that Big Freedia’s song, which was then interpolated into Beyoncé’s song, used their “unique and distinctive lyrics and musical composition” without permission. Read more at The Daily Beast.
Beyoncé’s Latest Lawsuit Claims She Stole Lyrics for ‘Break My Soul’Michael Buckner/Getty ImagesBeyoncé is still riding high off the release of her country-inspired album Cowboy Carter, but this week, she was hit with a copyright infringement lawsuit that may put a damper on her summer.The superstar has been accused of using a sample in “Break My Soul”—the lead single off 2022’s Renaissance—that allegedly infringes upon the copyright of a 2002 track by Da Showstoppaz called “Release a Wiggle.”“Break My Soul” interpolates the song “Explode” by New Orleans artist Big Freedia, who is also named in the lawsuit. The suit was filed by the original members of Da Showstoppaz, who say that Big Freedia’s song, which was then interpolated into Beyoncé’s song, used their “unique and distinctive lyrics and musical composition” without permission. Read more at The Daily Beast.
Florida football player Michai Boireau arrested after 150-mph police chaseThe defensive lineman "drove recklessly, radically changing lanes and driving through traffic at speeds of more than 100 mph, passing vehicles on the shoulder," according to a report.
Sen. Graham sounds alarm on terror threat after Marine base incident: 'Wake-up call'Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham sounds off on the threat an open border poses to another terrorist attack inside the United States on "Hannity."
Toronto awarded the first international WNBA team as league expandsToronto's WNBA expansion team is expected to play its first game in 2026. A team name has not yet been announced.
Can I call out my niece for homophobic posts? Give advice to this Hax question.Every week, we ask readers to think like an advice columnist and submit their advice to a question Carolyn Hax hasn’t answered.
Hacks shows cancel culture is a joke Jean Smart as Deborah Vance in Season 3 of Hacks The worst thing to happen to very good television shows is when they run out of things to say. Telling a good story and what fans and network executives want (more show) are forces often at odds with one another, and I’ve watched more than a few of my favorite shows crumble under the pressure to give it one more go. That’s why I was a little worried about Hacks, which stuck its landing in season two. The second season finale had Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) firing Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder), telling Ava that it was time for her to succeed on her own. The move came from love, and perhaps from Deborah, a little bit selfishly, wanting to enjoy her success alone. As a conclusion for these characters, it was well played and well earned — good for fans, extremely tricky for the writing team. The show relies on the friction created by the strange, begrudging love these two have for one another. Without the turbulence, there is no show here, and at the same time, more of the same rocky road antics between the two could feel repetitive. But it turns out, I had nothing to worry about. Hacks still has plenty to say. The show continues to be a consistent delight. This third chapter focuses on Deborah’s ambitions of becoming a late-night network TV talk show host. Through her journey, the show asks questions — both cynical and earnest — about what the future of commercial comedy looks like and which comedians actually get to take risks. The answer to the latter is usually the very rich and very famous. These themes collide in “Yes, And,” the eighth and penultimate episode of the season, in which Hacks’s antihero finally gets “canceled.” This was inevitable — cancellation is one of the most omnipresent conversations in modern comedy. There are few things less enjoyable than an allegedly funny boomer unable to see how unfunny they’ve become. And as the show establishes, Deborah Vance has always been a boomer (derogatory). But as the show makes clear, she’s not quite the worst boomer. Hacks is deeply self-aware, with its sharpness balancing its optimistic sitcom underpinnings. We’ve followed along as Deborah has learned how to navigate the modern world with a terminally millennial woman as her guide, and both of the main characters’ fumbles are framed more as miscommunications than personal failings. Still, below the slapstick of a “woke mob” coming for Deborah Vance, Hacks has canny observations about who gets canceled, who holds power, and what actually means anything in an industry that revolves around the rich and powerful. “Yes, And” opens with a seemingly innocuous mistake: Deborah Vance has been double-booked at both a UC Berkeley ceremony where she’ll be awarded with an honorary degree and an appearance at Palm Springs Pride. It’s a tough call, but Deborah has to go to Berkeley because she’s trying to build some momentum and buzz for the late-night hosting gig. A fancy event at a prestigious college will do that, and it turns out that a vaunted New Yorker writer profiling Deborah will also be there to finish up the article. Knock this out of the park and that late-night show is hers. But unfortunately for Team Deborah Vance, that plan quickly goes south — enough to make double-booking the least of their concerns. While at Berkeley, a supercut of Deborah telling racist and ableist “jokes” emerges and goes viral. Calling them jokes is generous because they’re just blobs of bigotry without anything resembling a punchline (e.g., cars shouldn’t be made by Asian people because Asian people aren’t good drivers). As Deborah tells Ava, the clips are stitched from material she did decades ago and she obviously doesn’t feel that way today. More importantly, though, Deborah needs the New Yorker and network executives to know she’s not problematic because she really wants this job. As the clip circulates, Deborah and Ava have to figure out what to do. Ignore it and hope it goes away? Admit she said those things, but don’t apologize? Acknowledge the clip and apologize? Deborah complains about being picked on, and that it isn’t fair that she’s being targeted. Ava thinks Deborah’s completely lost the plot. “You get to be rich and famous for making jokes,” Ava replies, urging Deborah to just say sorry. “People are allowed to have their reactions to them.” As Ava delivers this very astute observation Deborah (at a frat party no less), it’s not difficult to connect her point to the contemporary discourse surrounding real–life comedians getting critiqued for their jokes or behavior and then calling themselves victims of cancel culture. Whether it’s Dave Chappelle trying to defend his anti-trans humor, Amy Schumer talking about Middle East politics, Jerry Seinfeld talking about the state of modern-day comedy, or Ellen DeGeneres talking about getting “kicked out” of the business — it all revolves around not being able to handle critique. As Ava points out, there are no victims of cancel culture. No one is ever canceled. No one’s success is ever taken away. No one’s actually being censored. It’s simply a personal misreading of the power dynamic. All of the comics I listed above continue to have some combination of robust deals with streaming services, accolades for speaking out, and huge stadium shows. Fame inverts the comedy landscape. Famous comedians will always have more power than a non-famous person they’re targeting, which means they can’t help but punch down, a comedy no-no. Now that social media platforms and the internet have democratized fame and visibility, said famous comedians are being held accountable. Accountability can feel a lot like some kind of injustice to very famous, rich people. But at the end of the day they’re still very rich and famous. “No one’s actually canceled,” Ava says. The show putting these words in Ava’s mouth is important because she also lost a job over a joke. In the first season, Ava fires off a tweet about an anti-gay senator that gets her fired and kicks off the events of the show. Unlike famous comedians, she had to suffer consequences for what she did (i.e., moving to Las Vegas and working for Deborah Vance). She has firsthand experience about what being professionally “canceled” is actually like. At the same time, her trials and tribulations — becoming a landlord and not having much of a social life — were extremely privileged problems to have. Ava keeps reminding Deborah that she could end the kerfuffle by apologizing. Deborah, so stubborn, would rather go through the fresh hell of college improv and bribing frat brothers with wine than say sorry. She insists comedians don’t apologize for their comedy. It isn’t until a dean pulls the plug on her ceremony, and ostensibly damages the New Yorker profile, that Deborah finally agrees to attend an on-campus town hall and listen to the students offended by her old material. The ending of the episode is indistinguishable from a fairy tale. After Deborah’s apology, her New Yorker profile is glowing. It’s all about her humanity and how she’s a difficult, but daring comedian for wanting to learn and grow. With this newly demonstrated ability to listen, the writer surmises that Deborah would be the perfect late-night host. Right after Ava reads her the article, Deborah gets word that she clinched the gig and snagged her dream job. But while Deborah Vance got her happy ending, there’s a sly wryness to it that comes back to the show’s bigger point about famous people complaining about cancel culture: It’s all a joke. Of course, we’re happy when Deborah’s past doesn’t derail her future because she’s the show’s protagonist, and we know her story and who she is. (It doesn’t hurt that her transgressions are much less severe than real-life parallels.) She also apologizes because she seems to have some semblance of regret and wants to be better. And because she listens to the students tell her how wrong she was and shows remorse, she gets a glowing profile in a fancy magazine. The barest minimum gets a handsome reward because the bar is on the floor. While that’s a satisfying story for our fictional hero, it’s a little less enjoyable to think about how the episode underlines that Deborah’s job was never really in question. The viral clip and online rage were never going to ruin her chances. The network would likely always have given her the hosting gig. Between the second and third seasons of Hacks, Deborah has reached that tier of Seinfeld and DeGeneres, the level of prestige where any consequence can be met with complaint, and that’s just as good as an apology. It ultimately doesn’t matter whether Deborah was actually sorry about the offensive stuff she said or if she just wanted to appear sorry because her dream gig was being threatened. “Yes, And” gets at the idea that we all want to believe that people, especially famous rich ones, can be held accountable. We want our personal judgments to have some kind of bearing on an industry run by rich and powerful people. But that’s all a setup, something we fall for because it feels a little better than being the punchline.
Hacks shows cancel culture is a joke Jean Smart as Deborah Vance in Season 3 of Hacks The worst thing to happen to very good television shows is when they run out of things to say. Telling a good story and what fans and network executives want (more show) are forces often at odds with one another, and I’ve watched more than a few of my favorite shows crumble under the pressure to give it one more go. That’s why I was a little worried about Hacks, which stuck its landing in season two. The second season finale had Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) firing Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder), telling Ava that it was time for her to succeed on her own. The move came from love, and perhaps from Deborah, a little bit selfishly, wanting to enjoy her success alone. As a conclusion for these characters, it was well played and well earned — good for fans, extremely tricky for the writing team. The show relies on the friction created by the strange, begrudging love these two have for one another. Without the turbulence, there is no show here, and at the same time, more of the same rocky road antics between the two could feel repetitive. But it turns out, I had nothing to worry about. Hacks still has plenty to say. The show continues to be a consistent delight. This third chapter focuses on Deborah’s ambitions of becoming a late-night network TV talk show host. Through her journey, the show asks questions — both cynical and earnest — about what the future of commercial comedy looks like and which comedians actually get to take risks. The answer to the latter is usually the very rich and very famous. These themes collide in “Yes, And,” the eighth and penultimate episode of the season, in which Hacks’s antihero finally gets “canceled.” This was inevitable — cancellation is one of the most omnipresent conversations in modern comedy. There are few things less enjoyable than an allegedly funny boomer unable to see how unfunny they’ve become. And as the show establishes, Deborah Vance has always been a boomer (derogatory). But as the show makes clear, she’s not quite the worst boomer. Hacks is deeply self-aware, with its sharpness balancing its optimistic sitcom underpinnings. We’ve followed along as Deborah has learned how to navigate the modern world with a terminally millennial woman as her guide, and both of the main characters’ fumbles are framed more as miscommunications than personal failings. Still, below the slapstick of a “woke mob” coming for Deborah Vance, Hacks has canny observations about who gets canceled, who holds power, and what actually means anything in an industry that revolves around the rich and powerful. “Yes, And” opens with a seemingly innocuous mistake: Deborah Vance has been double-booked at both a UC Berkeley ceremony where she’ll be awarded with an honorary degree and an appearance at Palm Springs Pride. It’s a tough call, but Deborah has to go to Berkeley because she’s trying to build some momentum and buzz for the late-night hosting gig. A fancy event at a prestigious college will do that, and it turns out that a vaunted New Yorker writer profiling Deborah will also be there to finish up the article. Knock this out of the park and that late-night show is hers. But unfortunately for Team Deborah Vance, that plan quickly goes south — enough to make double-booking the least of their concerns. While at Berkeley, a supercut of Deborah telling racist and ableist “jokes” emerges and goes viral. Calling them jokes is generous because they’re just blobs of bigotry without anything resembling a punchline (e.g., cars shouldn’t be made by Asian people because Asian people aren’t good drivers). As Deborah tells Ava, the clips are stitched from material she did decades ago and she obviously doesn’t feel that way today. More importantly, though, Deborah needs the New Yorker and network executives to know she’s not problematic because she really wants this job. As the clip circulates, Deborah and Ava have to figure out what to do. Ignore it and hope it goes away? Admit she said those things, but don’t apologize? Acknowledge the clip and apologize? Deborah complains about being picked on, and that it isn’t fair that she’s being targeted. Ava thinks Deborah’s completely lost the plot. “You get to be rich and famous for making jokes,” Ava replies, urging Deborah to just say sorry. “People are allowed to have their reactions to them.” As Ava delivers this very astute observation Deborah (at a frat party no less), it’s not difficult to connect her point to the contemporary discourse surrounding real–life comedians getting critiqued for their jokes or behavior and then calling themselves victims of cancel culture. Whether it’s Dave Chappelle trying to defend his anti-trans humor, Amy Schumer talking about Middle East politics, Jerry Seinfeld talking about the state of modern-day comedy, or Ellen DeGeneres talking about getting “kicked out” of the business — it all revolves around not being able to handle critique. As Ava points out, there are no victims of cancel culture. No one is ever canceled. No one’s success is ever taken away. No one’s actually being censored. It’s simply a personal misreading of the power dynamic. All of the comics I listed above continue to have some combination of robust deals with streaming services, accolades for speaking out, and huge stadium shows. Fame inverts the comedy landscape. Famous comedians will always have more power than a non-famous person they’re targeting, which means they can’t help but punch down, a comedy no-no. Now that social media platforms and the internet have democratized fame and visibility, said famous comedians are being held accountable. Accountability can feel a lot like some kind of injustice to very famous, rich people. But at the end of the day they’re still very rich and famous. “No one’s actually canceled,” Ava says. The show putting these words in Ava’s mouth is important because she also lost a job over a joke. In the first season, Ava fires off a tweet about an anti-gay senator that gets her fired and kicks off the events of the show. Unlike famous comedians, she had to suffer consequences for what she did (i.e., moving to Las Vegas and working for Deborah Vance). She has firsthand experience about what being professionally “canceled” is actually like. At the same time, her trials and tribulations — becoming a landlord and not having much of a social life — were extremely privileged problems to have. Ava keeps reminding Deborah that she could end the kerfuffle by apologizing. Deborah, so stubborn, would rather go through the fresh hell of college improv and bribing frat brothers with wine than say sorry. She insists comedians don’t apologize for their comedy. It isn’t until a dean pulls the plug on her ceremony, and ostensibly damages the New Yorker profile, that Deborah finally agrees to attend an on-campus town hall and listen to the students offended by her old material. The ending of the episode is indistinguishable from a fairy tale. After Deborah’s apology, her New Yorker profile is glowing. It’s all about her humanity and how she’s a difficult, but daring comedian for wanting to learn and grow. With this newly demonstrated ability to listen, the writer surmises that Deborah would be the perfect late-night host. Right after Ava reads her the article, Deborah gets word that she clinched the gig and snagged her dream job. But while Deborah Vance got her happy ending, there’s a sly wryness to it that comes back to the show’s bigger point about famous people complaining about cancel culture: It’s all a joke. Of course, we’re happy when Deborah’s past doesn’t derail her future because she’s the show’s protagonist, and we know her story and who she is. (It doesn’t hurt that her transgressions are much less severe than real-life parallels.) She also apologizes because she seems to have some semblance of regret and wants to be better. And because she listens to the students tell her how wrong she was and shows remorse, she gets a glowing profile in a fancy magazine. The barest minimum gets a handsome reward because the bar is on the floor. While that’s a satisfying story for our fictional hero, it’s a little less enjoyable to think about how the episode underlines that Deborah’s job was never really in question. The viral clip and online rage were never going to ruin her chances. The network would likely always have given her the hosting gig. Between the second and third seasons of Hacks, Deborah has reached that tier of Seinfeld and DeGeneres, the level of prestige where any consequence can be met with complaint, and that’s just as good as an apology. It ultimately doesn’t matter whether Deborah was actually sorry about the offensive stuff she said or if she just wanted to appear sorry because her dream gig was being threatened. “Yes, And” gets at the idea that we all want to believe that people, especially famous rich ones, can be held accountable. We want our personal judgments to have some kind of bearing on an industry run by rich and powerful people. But that’s all a setup, something we fall for because it feels a little better than being the punchline.
