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The Daily Beast Latest Articles
The Daily Beast Latest Articles
Protester Whose Testicle ‘Exploded’ When Shot by Cop Wins $1.5M Settlement From City
Jason Armond/Getty ImagesThe Black Lives Matter protester whose testicle exploded when he was shot with a hard-foam projectile by a LAPD officer has won $1.5 million in a settlement with the city.The settlement doesn’t admit liability on the part of the LAPD or the city of Los Angeles, the L.A. Times reported, but it does close a lawsuit brought by the protester, Benjamin Montemayor, alleging excessive use of force and other civil rights violations against the city and its police.“This settlement shows that there are repercussions for police misconduct against the people they have sworn to protect,” Montemayor said Friday in a statement provided by his attorneys.Read more at The Daily Beast.
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‘God Help Us All’: 50 Cent Shares Reaction to Diddy Assault Video
Theo Wargo/Getty ImagesRapper 50 Cent weighed in on the latest development in the Sean “Diddy” Combs saga this week, as newly released video footage showed Diddy brutally assaulting his ex-girlfriend Cassie. Sharing the graphic footage to both Twitter and Instagram, 50 Cent added his two cents: “Now I’m sure puffy didn’t do it, he is innocent this proves nothing! This is what his lawyers are gonna say, God help us all.”The overtly sarcastic response come after months of the “In Da Club” rapper taunting Diddy online, as multiple lawsuits accused him of abuse and assault. Last year, 50 Cent announced he was working on a documentary about the allegations against Diddy and vowed to donate the doc’s proceeds to Diddy’s alleged victims. Yet however admirable those intentions sound, 50 hasn’t resisted discussing the project with a quip or two for his own amusement. “This is gonna break records when this drops,” he tweeted about the project in March, along with a fan poster with the title called Diddy Do It?When Combs’ homes were raided by authorities in March, 50 Cent added some jabs then too, tweeting “Now it’s not Diddy do it, it’s Diddy done ??‍♂ they don’t come like that unless they got a case.” That was after months of social media provocations that even dragged in Jay-Z, who 50 joked had stopped “answering his phone” for Diddy, as the scandal unfolded.Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Harrison Butker’s Hometown Gives Him a Major Tongue Lashing
Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Getty ImagesOutrage over Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker’s commencement speech—in which he urged women to prioritize their families over their careers and railed against the LGBTQ community—has reverberated across the country and right back to his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia.Among those incensed by the speech are teachers, peers, and others in the community who spoke with The Daily Beast about their reactions to Butker’s controversial remarks.“I was sick. I was disgusted,” said Amy Allen, an Atlanta real estate agent whose daughter overlapped with Butker at Westminster Schools, the elite private academy the star athlete attended. “It just felt so dystopian and just so backward … If someone were to sit there and say that to my daughter, I would just lose it,” she told The Daily Beast.Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Parents of Boy Who Died by Suicide Say They’re Being Bullied
Photo Illustration by Erin O’Flynn/The Daily Beast/Courtesy Sam TeuschThe mom and dad of a 10-year-old boy who died by suicide after relentless bullying by classmates says he and his wife are themselves now being bullied by perfect strangers who say they failed as parents.Sam Teusch, whose son Sammy took his own life on May 5, told The Daily Beast that he’s still trying to process what happened.“Right now, I’m fine,” an emotional Teusch said on Friday. “Ten seconds from now, I might not be. It’s just, like, a constant up and down and up and down. I walk past my microwave and I think of Sammy climbing up on the counter to throw in a bowl of soup, and it just knocks me down.”Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Fox News Rushes to Embrace Harrison Butker’s ‘Quite Tender’ Speech
Photo Illustration by Erin O’Flynn/The Daily Beast/Getty Images and ReutersFox News, the right-wing network that helped lead the charge against Colin Kaepernick and told NBA stars voicing their political opinions to “shut up and dribble,” is now mounting a full-throated defense of Harrison Butker amid growing backlash to the NFL star’s controversial commencement speech.“I thought his message was quite tender,” Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer said of the Kansas City Chief kicker’s address.The message Butker delivered during his 20-minute speech before the graduating class of Benedictine College, a tiny private Catholic school, quickly sparked intense criticism when he said women had been told “diabolical lies” about pursuing careers while suggesting they’d find more fulfillment as homemakers.Read more at The Daily Beast.
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‘Kinds of Kindness’: Emma Stone’s Twisted New Film Makes ‘Poor Things’ Seem Normal
Searchlight PicturesYorgos Lanthimos’ most recent film, the Oscar-winning Poor Things, was ultimately a nice movie for the director. Yes, it was bizarre and filled with sex scenes, but when you really boil it down to its essence it was the uplifting story of a woman gaining her sense of self and thus unusual in his oeuvre, which is full of bleak comedies where fathers lie to their children to keep them imprisoned at home and a happy ending means blinding yourself.Now Lanthimos and his Poor Things star Emma Stone are back and at the Cannes Film Festival with Kinds of Kindness, a film of a much different outlook on humanity. This omnibus, consisting of three stories, is brimming with cruelty as it weaves tales of people who act out to appease the ones they love —or at least think they love. You see a limb chopped off, an organ removed, and Jesse Plemons licking a gunshot wound in Joe Alwyn’s hand, among other atrocities. The message of Kinds of Kindness is that to win the affections of their desires, humans will do the unspeakable and therefore are selfish and unredeemable. It’s great.It also feels like pure uncut Yorgos, working in tandem with Efthimis Filippou, with whom he also wrote the likes of Dogtooth and The Killing of a Sacred Deer, both of which have a lot in common with Kinds of Kindness given their interest in social experiments and moral quandaries. Lanthimos and Stone’s collaboration once again produces bold acting, but the film also acts as proof that the director has found another muse in Plemons, who anchors two installments.Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Judge Puts Paul Pelosi Attacker Behind Bars for Decades
Getty Images/Michael ShortA California judge came down hard on the man who broke into Paul Pelosi’s home and struck him with a hammer in 2022, sentencing David DePape, a conspiracist obsessed with right-wing podcasts, to three decades in a federal prison. It’s a lengthy sentence for DePape, who will be in his mid-70s if he’s to serve his federal sentence in its entirety. He faced a potential sentence of up to life in prison, but his lawyers argued he deserved only 25 years in the clink.DePape, 44, was convicted in November on federal charges of assault on an immediate family member of a federal official and attempted kidnapping of a federal official. Read more at The Daily Beast.
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GOP, Dems Round on MTG After Outburst: ‘Her Brand Is Chaos’
Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/Reuters/GettyRep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) has hit back at Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), telling The Daily Beast that the congresswoman was trying to make her look “ghetto.”Crockett was responding after Greene said at a Thursday night House Oversight Committee meeting that Crockett couldn’t read past her “fake eyelashes.”“It was absolutely a racist thing,” she told The Daily Beast. “Any woman that knows anything about makeup and getting done up knows that eyelashes are one of those things that kind of come with it… MAGA has been trolling on social media for a while and it’s a way of them basically calling me ghetto and things like that, because of my hair and my lashes and my nails.”Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Everlane’s New Vacation Collection Will Round Out Your Summer Wardrobe
Scouted/The Daily Beast/Everlane.Scouted selects products independently. If you purchase something from our posts, we may earn a small commission.Summer is just around the corner, which means it’s time to start curating our warm-weather wardrobe accordingly. Just as the temps are heating up, Everlane released a new Everlane Editions collection, properly entitled Destination Vacation. Much like the well-curated Everlane Edition drops of the past, the resort-ready release is full of seasonal and transitional pieces perfect for both those summer vacays and everyday adventures, whether that’s a tropical getaway or a trip to the office.“For me, this Everlane Editions is more than just creating timeless garments, it’s about capturing a collection that can go from closet to suitcase,” Mathilde Mader, Everlane’s chief creative officer, said in a press release. Each piece is meticulously designed with a spirit of wanderlust and relaxation in mind.” Indeed, the wanderlust spirit is alive and well in every piece in the Destination Vacation collection.Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Diddy Seen Assaulting Cassie in Newly Released Surveillance Video
Jeff KravitzRapper and mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs can be seen physically assaulting ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in surveillance footage from 2016 published by CNN on Friday. In the video, Combs runs down the hallway in what appears to be a hotel clad only in a towel; Combs appears to be chasing Ventura, who he catches up with at a bank of elevators. Combs then grabs Ventura by the back of her head and throws her to the ground, where she remains, immobile, as he kicks her several times. Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Israeli Military Recovers Bodies of 3 Festival-Goers Slain By Hamas
Noam Galai/Getty ImagesThe Israeli army has recovered from a Gaza tunnel the bodies of three hostages who died on Oct. 7 while fleeing the Hamas attack at Israel’s Nova music festival.The bodies of Shani Louk, 23, Amit Bouskila, 28, and Itshak Gelernter, 57, were recovered and identified by Israeli soldiers, IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari told reporters during a press conference. All three of the hostages were attending the Nova music festival on Oct. 7 when Hamas attacked, and all three were killed while trying to escape the massacre.“They were celebrating life in the Nova music festival and they were murdered by Hamas,” Hagari said. He added that the bodies had been transferred to medical professionals for forensic examination.Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Whip Cream for the Face? No, It’s Not Just Another TikTok Gimmick—It’s Sunscreen
Scouted/The Daily Beast/Vacation. Scouted selects products independently. If you purchase something from our posts, we may earn a small commission.With summer on the horizon, my skin has been craving a non-sticky, irritation-free sunscreen that not only protects me from the sun but also feels lightweight and doesn’t break me out. I have oily and acne-prone skin, which means that even a dollop of the wrong SPF can lead to clogged pores and blemishes that no amount of concealer can rectify. Over the years, I’ve tried a laundry list of sunscreen formulas, but most of them resulted in an oily mess and a constellation of pimples on my face. When Vacation’s Classic Whip SPF30 Mousse appeared on my TikTok feed recently, I was stunned to see that the whipped cream-like product was not meant to be topped on an ice cream sundae. Plus, many TikTokers mentioned that the formula was so lightweight and non-greasy that they forgot they were even wearing it. Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Xi and Putin Join the ‘Awkward Hugs Between World Leaders’ Club
Mikhail Metzel/ReutersRussian President Vladimir Putin, who’s historically averse to physical touch, embraced the Chinese leader Xi Jinping in a pair of awkward hugs on Friday as the two met at a northeastern China university renowned for its military defense research.The seemingly uncomfortable—and slightly robotic—embrace appeared to have been initiated by Xi, who could be seen mouthing something while raising both of his arms to welcome in a hesitant Putin. Xi was then seen patting the Russian president’s side, followed by Putin initiating a handshake as they pulled away from each other. Awkward hugs aside, the willingness of Putin to leave Moscow for a meeting with Xi in China underscores the pair’s growing alliance—something that’s sure to worry Western leaders.Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Zendaya’s ‘Erotomaniac’ Cyberstalker Sentenced in France
GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT/AFP via Getty ImagesA French man was sentenced to five years of high-security psychiatric hospitalization on Thursday for cyberstalking and harassing global superstar Zendaya, according to the daily French newspaper Ouest-France.The unnamed man sent the star thousands of messages, which escalated in number between September 2023 and February 2024, wherein he threatened to kidnap and rape her, according to the newspaper. Some of the messages also reportedly featured “pornographic photomontages.”Read aloud in Rennes Criminal Court, one example message sent to the star threatened the star with his knowledge of the Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport, into which she was flying, and said that if he didn’t hear from her within 24 hours of receiving his message, “she will tremble.”Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Francis Ford Coppola Defends Spending Fortune on ‘Megalopolis’ Instead of His Family
Zoulerah NORDDINE / AFPFrancis Ford Coppola’s confounding epic Megalopolis finally debuted this week at the Cannes Film Festival, and the beloved, iconic director behind The Godfather franchise has been dropping bon mots left and right. He’s 85 years old, after all, and who wouldn’t expect him to be a little quirky? Megalopolis, meanwhile, is reportedly so bizarre that it’s prompting trauma bonds between critics. Megalopolis is a go-for-broke passion project that reportedly cost Coppola $120 million of his own money, prompting Cannes reporters to pepper him with questions about money at a press conference on Friday.Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Family of Indigenous Man Killed by Border Patrol Files Suit
Courtesy of Mattia FamilyNearly a year to the day after an Indigenous Arizona man called police for help about alleged undocumented migrants trespassing on his property within tribal land and was killed by U.S. Border Patrol agents, the family has filed a lawsuit demanding action in their loved one’s untimely death.On Friday, Raymond Mattia’s family insisted that Customs and Border Patrol take responsibility for the death they considered was unjustified.In the lawsuit filed Thursday against the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Mattia family demanded justice for each member who was affected by their loved one’s death.Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Russians Plunged into Darkness After Monster Drone Attack
Valentyn Ogirenko/ReutersUkraine launched a massive drone attack against military and energy facilities in Russia and the occupied peninsula Crimea overnight, with Moscow saying Friday that over 100 unmanned weapons had been involved in the operation.The Russian Defense Ministry claimed its forces had intercepted and destroyed 102 UAVs over four different regions while another six drone boats were taken out in the Black Sea. While the ministry did not reveal the extent of the damage from the attack, multiple explosions were reported in the Russian city of Novorossiysk and the Kremlin-backed governor of Sevastopol said a substation was damaged and the power supply was disrupted.A source from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) told the Kyiv Independent that the assault was a joint operation conducted by the SBU and Ukraine’s military intelligence. “Today’s operation proved that the Russians are unable to protect their main naval bases in Sevastopol and Novorossiysk,” the source said.Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Donald Trump Gets Front Row View at Barron’s High School Graduation
Marco Bello/ReutersDonald Trump was photographed Friday morning at his youngest son Barron’s graduation in West Palm Beach, Florida, standing tall next to wife Melania in the front row of bleachers at Oxbridge Academy’s football field. The elder Trump reportedly arrived just two minutes before the private commencement began, exiting a motorcade and entering the football field’s aluminum stands through a heavily guarded entrance.Trump was seen wearing a dark suit, white dress shirt, and blue tie, with Oxbridge parents, loved ones, and soon to be graduates giving him a round of applause, the Daily Mail reported. Photos showed two Secret Service agents, wearing suits and sunglasses, standing behind Trump. Viktor Knavs, Melania’s dad, was also spotted in attendance beside his daughter.Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Trump Will Spend Part of Barron’s Big Graduation Day at a GOP Fundraiser
Sarah Silbiger/ReutersLast month, Donald Trump was indignant when it appeared that the judge in his hush-money trial might not let him have a day off from the proceedings in order to attend his son Barron’s high school graduation. Trump said Barron “was looking forward for years to have graduation with his mother and father there” at the ceremony, but it looked like the judge wouldn’t let him “escape this scam—it’s a scam trial.”In the end, of course, Judge Juan Merchan did allow the former president a day off from the trial to go to the graduation, which is set to take place in Florida on Friday. Given how upset he was about the prospect of not being to spend the day with his son in the Sunshine State, it’s perhaps a little surprising that he’s planning to be at the opposite end of the country at a GOP fundraiser on Friday evening.After the graduation at Oxbridge Academy in West Palm Beach, Trump will be heading off to Minnesota, according to the Associated Press. There, he’s set to headline the state GOP’s annual Lincoln Reagan dinner in St. Paul—tickets for the event start at $500 but go all the way up to $100,000 for a 10-person VIP table that includes photo opportunities with Trump.Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Scottie Scheffler, World’s No. 1 Golfer, Detained by Cops Outside PGA Championship
Jon Durr/USA Today Sports via ReutersScottie Scheffler was detained by police early Friday morning before the second round of the PGA Championship. The world No. 1 golfer was put in handcuffs at the entrance to the Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, according to ESPN. The network reported that Scheffler was attempting to drive past a police officer when he was ordered to stop and get out of the vehicle.ESPN reported that a “misunderstanding with traffic flow” had led to Scheffler’s attempt to drive past the cop. A shuttle bus struck and killed a pedestrian outside the gate of the golf club at around 5 a.m., according to the Louisville Metro Police Department. Multiple officers and first responders remained at the scene at 6:45 a.m.Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Cops Kill Knife-Wielding Suspect Who Set Fire to a Synagogue in France
Gonzalo Fuentes/ReutersPolice in France shot an armed suspect dead Friday morning after he attempted to torch a synagogue, authorities said.The attack unfolded in the northwestern city of Rouen. Responding officers “neutralized” the man who was “clearly wanting to set fire to the city’s synagogue,” Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin announced in a post on X. He also congratulated officers for their “responsiveness and courage.”Rouen Mayor Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol said in his own post that there were “no victims other than the armed individual.” Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Powerful Thunderstorms Ravage Houston and Kill at Least 4
Go Coogs X@vic4uh via ReutersFerocious thunderstorms brought chaos to Houston on Thursday, with at least four people killed and almost 1 million homes and businesses left without power as hurricane-speed winds ripped down trees and damaged buildings while torrential rains flooded the streets.Houston Mayor John Whitmire confirmed the fatalities at an evening briefing. He also advised workers to stay at home Friday and said school classes are also canceled. “Stay at home tonight,” Whitmire said. “Don’t go to work tomorrow, unless you’re an essential worker.”Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peña said early information suggested that two of the deaths were caused by falling trees. A third was caused by a crane being “blown over” by the strong winds, Peña added. No information was given about how the fourth victim was killed.Read more at The Daily Beast.
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How RFK Jr. Could Open a Can of Brain Worms at the Debates
Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/GettyThis week, we examine the ways in which RFK Jr. can throw a “hand grenade” into the presidential debates. Plus, we go inside a new Democratic PAC that is aiming low, and get a preview of Biden’s “uncommitted” critics landing some delegates for the Democratic National Convention.Amid a flurry of news earlier this week on the newly announced slate of presidential debates, independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pulled a Trumpian move by preemptively declaring he will meet the standards and qualify to appear.He also accused his opponents of “colluding” to keep him off the debate stage. But if Kennedy can actually make the debates, it could open a can of brain worms for President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Harry and Meghan Playing ‘Rival Royals’ Is Palace ‘Nightmare’: Source
Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty/ReutersPrince Harry and Meghan Markle’s tour of Nigeria, the suggestion that they will do more such foreign tours, and Harry’s statement claiming his father King Charles III had refused to meet him have combined to reactivate the simmering feud between the two families. Relations are “as bad as they have ever been” according to one friend of the Windsors.The Sussex tour of Nigeria, whilst being hailed as a tremendous success by their camp and garnering positive global headlines, has aroused suspicions and stoked fears of a “rival” royal operation disrupting careful overseas messaging by the family.One former royal staffer told The Daily Beast: “Overseas visits might look like jollies, but they are actually a matter of foreign policy. They are about promoting the U.K. and building diplomatic and trade alliances on behalf of the government.Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Opinion: Mitt Romney Has a Point About Pardoning Trump
William B. Plowman/NBC via Getty ImagesDonald Trump poses an existential threat to liberal democracy; therefore, a reasonable reaction to his possible return to power has been to throw everything but the kitchen sink at him.This ranged from supporting his impeachment and removal, to voting for his adversaries (including Nikki Haley), to charging him with 88 criminal offenses in four criminal cases.But a new theory has emerged that suggests the latter example of this confrontational approach was unwise and counterproductive. And it is coming from the unlikeliest of sources: Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT).Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Opinion: SCOTUS Silently Grinds Democracy Into Powder as Trump Distracts America
Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/GettyListen to this full episode of The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon and Stitcher.With all of the focus and attention on Donald Trump, the Supreme Court is quietly taking steps to hasten the end of democracy as we know it.That’s according to Dahlia Lithwick, author of Lady Justice: Women, the Law, and the Battle to Save America, who joins The New Abnormal this week to put the spotlight back on SCOTUS.Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Steamy New ‘Bridgerton’ Finally Ushers in Swooning Season
Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty/NetflixWhenever I go out these days (roughly once every seven months), I am baffled and bereft. No one announces my presence as I enter the ball. Not a single person is wearing a corset. There’s not a bushy sideburn to be found. And the music? It’s not an orchestral arrangement of a recent pop hit, but an actual pop hit that is playing. The scandal of it all! Worse, when I go to spread the gossip for all to hear, it’s not Lady Whistledown’s latest newsletter that I am directed to, but a rancid place of toxic disrepute called “X” instead.My fervent desire each year for the romantic escapism of Bridgerton surprises me, but it’s more potent now than ever—especially after I’ve seen the episodes of Season 3 that dropped this week. I’m not a person who is comforted by the coziness of Hallmark Christmas movies; in fact, I find myself rather allergic to them. I’m never whisked away by the period romances that enamor so many people—unless you count being whisked straight to a bored social media doomscroll. Yet I relish being transported to the Ton each new season.(Warning: Some spoilers for Bridgerton Season 3.)Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Netflix’s ‘Thelma the Unicorn’ Is the Next Animated Romp Your Kids Will Love
NetflixThelma (Brittany Howard) has spent a lifetime dreaming of bigger, better opportunities. Hoping to exchange her farm-pony life for one as a musical sensation, Thelma and her donkey pals Otis (Will Forte) and Reggie (Jon Heder) are The Rusty Buckets, a band ready for their big break. They may have just found it, as they get a chance to audition for the concert of the year—Sparklepalooza. But before they can play a single note, the judges reject them, callously saying they have no “it” factor.Luckily for Thelma, she’s about to get the makeover of a lifetime, courtesy of a very funny freak accident, in which barrels of glitter and pink paint spill all over her. Throw in a carrot glued to her forehead, and Thelma goes from humble pony to shimmering unicorn in an instant, immediately launching her powerful singing voice into superstardom.Directed by Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite) and Lynn Wang (Unikitty!), Thelma the Unicorn is the latest feature from Netflix’s animation arm. You typically have an idea of what to expect from older animation studios like Disney, Ghibli, or Laika, but Netflix has been all over the place, largely using third parties to animate their films. Lately, the streaming service has shifted to in-house projects and co-productions like Klaus, The Sea Beast, Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Childhood, and Wendell & Wild. Those four examples contain four drastically different animation styles—traditional, CG, rotoscope, and stop-motion—so it’s hard to know what exactly to anticipate from Netflix.Read more at The Daily Beast.
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‘Drag Race All Stars’ Premiere Reads RuPaul for Filth
Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Paramount+There were exactly four weeks between when the newbie Ru Girls of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 16 sashayed away and the seasoned Drag Race All Stars Season 9 queens stomped their stilettos back into the show’s workroom. (To the average civilian, that’s 28 days, but to a gay man—who must subtract his hangovers, k-holes, and/or blackouts caused by the severe emotional distress of shorts weather returning—it’s about six days.) Drag Race moves fast so its producers can maintain its status as a cornerstone of reality television. But all of that rushing and scheduling can become tiresome. Even the strongest of us viewers can get fatigued by the onslaught of new seasons, which is why Drag Race All Stars 9, which premieres May 17 on Paramount+, is switching things up in a major way.This season, all of the returning queens are competing for charity. And no, they’re not trying to raise money for the Alexis Michelle Colored Contacts Foundation, or donating to the Daya Betty Insulin Institute. They’re playing for actual charities, ones that don’t have a wire straight to a Florida surgeon who performs Brazilian butt lifts on the cheap. All the contestants are here to knock out the competition for a chance to donate to causes near and dear to their hearts. But there’s another twist: No one’s going home this season. Most All Stars installments see the girls eliminating each other, but that wouldn’t be very charitable, would it? Instead, each cast member will compete in challenges to win Beautiful Benefactress Badges, scoring them $10,000 for their charity. The BBBs (that’s one more “B” than I’m sure these girls are used to seeing, if you catch my drift…*cough* bareback *cough*) will be tallied at the end of the season, and whoever has the most badges will take home $200,000 for their charity of choice.Maybe it’s the fact that the money is going someplace other than these queens’ own bank accounts that makes All Stars 9 so lighthearted. This really is RuPaul’s Best Friend Race, fulfilling a prophecy that Lashauwn Beyond spoke into fruition back in Drag Race Season 4. The queens are not afraid to be more raucous and messy than they usually are, and watching them have fun together without so much pressure is downright infectious. That cheerful atmosphere might even be the reason that one queen could walk away from the premiere unscathed and alive, after delivering a read so vile, so rotted, and so absolutely hysterical that even the notoriously unpredictable RuPaul couldn’t help but laugh at his own expense.Read more at The Daily Beast.
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‘A Gentleman in Moscow’ Finale Will Make You Cry, if Only for a Moment
Ben Blackall/Paramount+ with SHOWTIMEWe’ve reached the end of A Gentleman in Moscow, but we can’t wrap things up without one final escapade for Alexander (Ewan McGregor), Anna (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), and Sofia (Beau Gadsdon). Before the finale wraps, they’ll need to become spies for the American government—this way, Sofia will have a ticket out of the corrupt Russian leadership.The plan sounds simple enough. While Sofia is off performing at the conservatory in Paris, she’ll sneak off in the middle of the show to deliver the important tapes Alex recorded from dinner a few nights ago. She’ll head to the American Embassy in Paris, hand over the evidence, and Richard (Lucian Msamati) will get her on the next plane to the United States. Then, once everything has arrived safely, Richard will call every phone at the Metropol Hotel, alerting Alex to his child’s safety.Sofia is fitted for her recital dress—really one of the most gorgeous dresses I’ve seen all year, a fit that would look marvelous on Anne Hathaway—by Marina (Leah Harvey), and Alex is speechless. “You look so grown up,” he says through tears. Wait…am I also crying? This is kind of adorable. I’ve spent weeks complaining about how much I want this show to end, but now, I’m a little sad it’s coming to a close. Just two episodes ago, Sofia was giggling while hiding a thimble in Alex’s room—now, she’s a woman.Read more at The Daily Beast.
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