Kate Aurthur Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Kate Aurthur editor On Aug. 15, a coalition of showrunners, TV creators and directors sent a list of demands to studios, outlining the urgent need for abortion safety protocols for productions in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in June to overturn Roe v. Wade. It was the organization’s second letter — the studios had collectively answered the first one, sent on July 28 — with a response one member of the group, who spoke anonymously to Variety, called “patronizing” in an interview. The group’s second letter more clearly detailed the medical dangers for pregnant women in states where abortion is illegal because of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision — not only for those who want an abortion, but for women whose medical care might be otherwise compromised. Ignoring the collective response, which had been issued by the Motion Picture Association, the Aug. 15 appeal was sent directly to studio presidents, and members of the boards of directors at AMC Networks, Amazon Studios, Apple TV+, NBCUniversal, Netflix, Paramount, The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros. Discovery. They gave a deadline of Labor Day for responses from the studios.

Kate Aurthur editor The Aug. 6 address before the assembly at Remnant Fellowship — delivered to an in-person gathering in Brentwood, TN, and via webcast to anyone who might want to watch — began typically enough, with congregants watching an old video sermon from Gwen Shamblin Lara, the church’s late founder who died in a plane crash on May 29, 2021. What happened after the video portion ended, though, was unusual. In a portion of the sermon, obtained by Variety, Elizabeth Hannah, Lara’s daughter and a leader at Remnant, called in, as she sometimes does. But instead of her usual teachings for Saturday service, Hannah delivered a homily of schadenfreude aimed directly at HBO Max, the enemy of Remnant and the Shamblin family.

Kate Aurthur editorIn its finale in January, “Yellowjackets” posed a terrifying question: Who the fuck is Lottie Matthews? And now, Showtime has an answer. With Season 2 of the show starting production later this month in Vancouver, the network announced that adult Lottie will be played by Simone Kessell, who recently starred as Princess Leia’s mother Breha Organa in “Obi-Wan Kenobi” and as the mother of Blackbeard (Taika Waititi) on “Our Flag Means Death.”Lottie, who is played as a teenager by Courtney Eaton, emerged as the central antagonist of the show in the first season of “Yellowjackets.” A rich kid whose parents furnished her soccer team with a private plane in order for the Yellowjackets to travel to nationals, Lottie had been forced to go off her anti-psychotic medication after that plane crashed in the wilderness, where the show’s 1996 timeline is set.

Kate Aurthur editorTaylor Armstrong, an original cast member of Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” is joining the upcoming season of the “Orange County” version of the franchise, though she won’t be a full cast member. Armstrong — according to People magazine, which broke the news of her casting — lives in Orange County with her husband John Bluher and her daughter, Kennedy, now 16.“The Real Housewives of Orange County” premiered on Bravo in March 2006, and Armstrong is the first “Housewives” cast member to jump from one series to another.Armstrong appeared on the first three seasons of “Beverly Hills,” and has been seen on it since as a guest star, never leaving the Bravo-verse.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeReach Michael on Twitter @franklinavenue or email [email protected] B. Vary and Kate Aurthur have the skinny on this year’s Emmy nomination snubs and surprises:Welp, apparently the Emmys hate Westerns.The stunning lack of nominations for the popular and acclaimed series “Yellowstone” and “1883” were far from the only surprises in Tuesday morning’s Emmy nominations announcement, of course.

Kate Aurthur editor“Million Dollar Listing New York” — a key installment in Bravo’s long-running real estate franchise — won’t be returning anytime soon, sources tell Variety. Bravo never uses the word “canceled,” instead considering series to be “paused,” since it sometimes brings shows back years later, as was the case with the revived “Real Housewives of Miami” on Peacock last year.In the case of “Million Dollar Listing New York,” the network had no comment, but the current incarnation of the show is over.The series is a spinoff of “Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles,” which premiered on Bravo in 2006. The “New York” version made its debut in 2012 and ran for nine seasons.

Kate Aurthur editor“This is all really fun,” said Stefani Robinson, reflecting back on her career. “Making vampire dick jokes, are you joking me?”The fourth season of FX’s vampire comedy “What We Do in the Shadows” will premiere on July 12, but before that, showrunners Robinson and Paul Simms delved into the characters’ Season 3 tribulations: Namely, the existential crisis faced by Nandor (Kayvan Novak), and the death and rebirth of energy vampire Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch).Simms said Colin’s third-season journey began with Stefani Robinson — no relation to Colin that we know of — saying in the writers’ room, “We can’t just have Colin boring people again.”“So we were always discussing, well, how did he become an energy vampire?” Simms continued.

Kate Aurthur editorSterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi — the co-creators of “Reservation Dogs” — met in the mid-aughts, and though Harjo is from Oklahoma and Waititi grew up in New Zealand, they immediately bonded over their shared experiences as Indigenous filmmakers. As Waititi’s star rose, the two remained friends, but “I never talked to him about work,” Harjo said.

Carson Burton The creative team behind “Gordita Chronicles” are ready to bring change to the small screen.Premiering on June 23 on HBO Max, the semi-autobiographical series from creator and executive producer Claudia Forestieri tells the story of a Dominican family that leaves Santo Domingo for Miami in pursuit of the American Dream. Joining Forestieri in a keynote conversation at Variety‘s Changemakers Summit with editor-at-large Kate Aurthur were executive producers Zoe Saldaña, Eva Longoria and Brigitte Muñoz-Liebowitz, who also serves as showrunner.

Kate Aurthur editor“If I may get a little graphic, the minute the fingering in the kitchen happens, people didn’t know what was coming next,” says Michael Patrick King.Indeed! King — the longtime “Sex and the City” executive producer, who runs “And Just Like That” for HBO Max — thinks the show’s fifth episode was a turning point for viewers on the matter of Che Diaz (Sara Ramírez), who became a divisive presence among the show’s fandom. During that episode, titled “Tragically Hip,” Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) gets hip surgery, and has to rely on her friends to take care of her during her recovery.

William Earl Variety has announced the lineup for its virtual Changemakers Summit on June 14. The event features keynotes and panel conversations highlighting individuals who are advancing equality and elevating underrepresented voices in the entertainment industry.

Meredith Woerner Deputy Editor, Variety.comVariety has been nominated for 72 Southern California Journalism Awards, including two for journalist of the year, three for entertainment journalist of the year and six nominations for criticism of TV, music and books.The awards, given out by the Los Angeles Press Club, honor outstanding journalism in the region across print, digital, radio and broadcast platforms.Executive editor Ramin Setoodeh and deputy music editor Jem Aswad are both up for journalist of the year. TV critic Daniel D’Addario along with chief film critic Owen Gleiberman and features editor Chris Willman are all nominated for entertainment journalist of the year.Aswad leads all Variety staffers with 14 total nominations, followed by Willman with nine nominations.

Kate Aurthur editor“Shahs of Sunset” won’t be returning to Bravo anytime in the near future, Variety has confirmed. The reality show — which has run on the network for nine seasons after premiering in March 2012 — has been put on hiatus.Bravo rarely uses the word “canceled,” since it sometimes revives series years later.

Variety Staff Follow Us on TwitterMichael Schneider has been elevated to Television Editor of Variety, overseeing TV industry coverage as well as TV awards-related news and features.Variety is also expanding its TV presence with editor-at-large Kate Aurthur taking on new responsibilities for leading fan-focused coverage of TV content. Variety is increasing its investment in coverage of current series, from series previews and first-looks to episodic recaps, cast and showrunner Q&As, critical commentary, post-mortems, scene breakdowns and other content that fuels word-of-mouth and social conversation around TV.Schneider and Aurthur will work closely together in steering the industry’s largest team of TV-focused reporters.

tagging Chris Rock with a audible, on stage slap during the Oscars after Rock made a hair-loss joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, who suffers from alopecia.The caught on camera affair — one that prompted the “King Richard” Academy Award winner to yell “keep my wife’s name out your f–king mouth” to Rock after — was no laughing matter for some of the industry’s most known jokesters who have since sounded off, condemning the attack.“He could have killed him,” comedy director Judd Apatow wrote in a now-deleted tweet republished by Variety editor-at-large Kate Aurthur. “That’s pure out-of-control rage and violence.

Kate Aurthur editorFarrah Forke, who co-starred on the long-running NBC sitcom “Wings,” died of cancer on Feb. 25 in her Texas home, a family friend confirmed to Variety.

Kate Aurthur editorEarly this year, “General Hospital” killed off Luke Spencer, the iconic character who was played by Anthony Geary on and off for decades. Luke’s current wife Tracy Quartermaine (Jane Elliot) turned up at the door of his ex-wife Laura (Genie Francis) — whose coupledom with Luke sent “General Hospital” to its stratospheric heights in the early 1980s — to tell her the tragic news.

Kate Aurthur editorHBO Max has released the first image from its upcoming special “Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts,” which is premiering on Jan. 1 — and it shows stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson in conversation in the Gryffindor common room.

Kate Aurthur editorTo kick off Thanksgiving week, Netflix has dropped the trailer for Shonda Rhimes’ “Inventing Anna,” and announced the story of scammer Anna Delvey will premiere on Feb. 11.For Variety’s Show Woman of the Year cover story on Rhimes earlier this month, she described the origins of the show.

Kate Aurthur editorNetflix has released the first look of Lindsay Lohan’s forthcoming Christmas rom-com, which is still untitled. Lohan has largely foregone acting in recent years, so this movie — which will stream during the holiday season next year — marks her return to the screen.

Kate Aurthur editor“Prey,” which is set in the “Predator” universe — with an Indigenous woman as its lead — will stream on Hulu in the United States and on Star internationally in summer 2022.Reports about the existence of a “Predator” reboot were out there, but its first look, title and the timing of its release were officially announced on Friday as part of its Disney Plus Day promotional event.

Kate Aurthur editor“Grey’s Anatomy” viewers first saw E.R. Fightmaster in the role of Dr.

Kate Aurthur editorPeter Scolari, who rose to stardom on the brilliant-but-canceled “Bosom Buddies” alongside Tom Hanks, died Friday morning at age 66 of cancer, after a two-year illness.His death was confirmed by his manager Ellen Lubin Sanitsky at Wright Entertainment.Scolari was a prolific actor, both on television and on Broadway. He won an Emmy in 2016 for his portrayal of Tad Horvath on “Girls,” the father of Hannah (Lena Dunham).

Kate Aurthur editorOn Friday, Amazon Prime Video dropped “LuLaRich,” a four-part docuseries that exposes the misdeeds of clothing company/pyramid scheme LuLaRoe.

Kate Aurthur editorAbigail Spencer, who has played Megan Hunt on “Grey’s Anatomy,” will return to the ABC medical drama in a recurring role for its upcoming 18th season. According to representatives from ABC, Spencer’s Megan will first appear in the season premiere of “Grey’s Anatomy” on Sept.

Kate Aurthur editor“The Real Housewives of Dallas” will not film this year, and a new season of the show will not air on Bravo in 2022, the network has confirmed to Variety.

Kate Aurthur editorLena Waithe’s Hillman Grad Productions and Endeavor Content are producing the upcoming documentary “Being Mary: The Mary Tyler Moore Documentary.” James Adolphus (“Soul of a Nation”) will direct, and the doc — Hillman Grad’s first documentary project from its inception — will be released in 2022.Endeavor Content bought the rights from the Mary Tyler Moore estate for Hillman Grad, and will finance “Being Mary,” as well as handling its worldwide sales.

Kate Aurthur editorAs the COVID-19 pandemic continued, “Variety Studio: Actors on Actors” shot virtually this spring and continued to be a valuable stop for awards hopefuls.On Tuesday morning, 15 actors who participated in Variety’s franchise — which celebrates the year’s best television performances — received Emmy nominations.The pairing of Kaley Cuoco (HBO Max’s “The Flight Attendant”) and Elizabeth Olsen (Disney Plus’ “WandaVision”) were both nominated in their respective categories of lead

Kate Aurthur editorLindsay Lohan, who has largely foregone acting in recent years, will soon star in a yet-to-be-titled Netflix holiday rom-com.