As always, there were some cast exits in the off-season; longtime fans won’t see staples including Heidi Gardner, Ego Nwodim and more when the sketch comedy returns. But, there are some new “SNL” cast members too.

Here’s what you need to know headed into Saturday night.

When does season 51 premiere?

New episodes of “SNL” begin on Saturday, October 4 at 11:30 p.m. ET.

Who’s hosting?

So far, “SNL” has set three hosts for the season. Bad Bunny will kick things off, followed by some fan favorites. Here’s how it breaks down:

• Oct. 4 (premiere): Bad Bunny hosts, Doja Cat musical guest
• Oct. 11: Amy Poehler hosts, Role Model musical guest
• Oct. 18: Sabrina Carpenter hosts and serves as the musical guest

Who left the cast ahead of season 51?

Along with Heidi Gardner and Ego Nwodim, Devon Walker, Michael Longfellow and Emil Wakim all exited the sketch series.

The show also split up Please Don’t Destroy, who had largely filled the place of Lonely Island for a few years. Ben Marshall was upped to featured player for season 51, with Martin Herlihy staying on the writing staff. Meanwhile, John Higgins exited the show entirely to pursue acting projects.

Who are the new “SNL” cast members?

Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, Kam Patterson and Veronica Slowikowksa join Marshall as this season’s new featured players.

Brennan, who is from Saint Paul, Minnesota, was selected as a Just for Laughs New Face of Comedy in 2023 and has appeared on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.”

Likewise, Culhane is best known for his viral TikTok videos, and also appears as a regular on Dropout TV and performs with the Upright Citizens Brigade in Los Angeles.

Patterson is a regular on live comedy podcast “Kill Tony” and can be seen on Netflix’s “72 Hours,” while Slowikowska is known for her comedy content on Instagram and TikTok and has appeared in Netflix’s “Tires” and FX’s “What We Do in the Shadows.”

Is ‘SNL’ streaming?

Yes, ”Saturday Night Live” streams new episodes live on Peacock. Episodes are then available to watch on demand on the streaming service.

The post Is ‘SNL’ New Tonight? Here’s Who’s Hosting the Next Episode appeared first on TheWrap.

Those with a cursory interest in movies may only know him from his gangster pictures or perhaps even in caricature as that New Yorker with the bushy eyebrows and rapid speech. For those people, Rebecca Miller’s five-part Apple TV+ docuseries “Mr. Scorsese” will be a revelation, a way of expanding an understanding of this filmmaker and why his movies have had such an enduring impact even if some of his pictures weren’t fully embraced in their own time. For those who are already fans of Scorsese, there’s still plenty to enjoy, but we’re left with the question of why Miller took this particular approach, and if simply going through the filmography of his narrative features is the way to probe deeper into such a prolific artist.

What elevates “Mr. Scorsese” from being merely a Wikipedia entry is the involvement of Scorsese and his close collaborators, who can speak as primary sources on his life and works. The first two episodes are the best part as we see Scorsese chat with childhood friends and speak about growing up in a rough neighborhood around mobbed-up guys. On the one hand, all of this material–his asthma pushing him towards movies rather than sports, the influence of the Catholic Church, attending NYU–is known, but it’s great to see it rendered not only with old photos and home movies, but in Scorsese’s own words. It’s one thing to say “Oh, Johnny Boy from ‘Mean Streets’ is partially based on this guy from the neighborhood, ‘Sally Gaga,’” but it’s a complete delight to then have an old friend of Scorsese call up Sally and ask if he wants to come by and be in the documentary. That’s where “Mr. Scorsese” comes alive in a way that feels distinct and special from all the profiles that have been done before.

It’s also great to see Miller probe deeper into earlier works and how those both crafted Scorsese as a professional filmmaker as well as fed into his personal turmoil like his drug addiction and failed marriages. When you take the time to explore “Boxcar Bertha,” then you can dig into the influence of people like Roger Corman and John Cassavettes. Corman gave Scorsese a shot to make a feature and the demands of a professional (albeit knock-off, B-movie) outfit while Cassavettes was essential as a guiding voice of independent cinema pushing the young filmmaker to tell a personal story with “Mean Streets.” From there, you can really get rolling into seeing Scorsese’s development for a movie like “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” and the drive for personal expression in movies like “Taxi Driver” or even flops like “New York, New York.” 

Since the docuseries largely spends its time exploring Scorsese through his features with occasional offshoots regarding his personal life (his marriages, his celebrity, etc.), “Mr. Scorsese” is mostly successful at recontextualizing the filmmaker before he became a legend. We can see that for decades, Scorsese, despite his acclaim, always had a tumultuous relationship with Hollywood, a town that didn’t always know what to do with someone who never had the populist touch of contemporaries like Spielberg or even De Palma. His violence was deemed too aggressive and his movies were unafraid of ambiguous conclusions. That was never going to fit into a post-70s Hollywood, and it’s fascinating to see movies like “The Color of Money” and “After Hours” as a way of Scorsese fighting his way back in only to invite controversy once again with “The Last Temptation of Christ.” 

As the docuseries moves into its fourth episode, you can see what Miller is up against as each Scorsese movie or project could conceivably be worthy of its own documentary. “Mr. Scorsese” sets “Last Temptation” up to be a major battle and turning point, but it’s resolved in about five minutes so the episode can get to “Goodfellas,” which is understandably a bigger and more influential work in Scorsese’s oeuvre. Once the series reaches the ‘90s, it feels like it’s on fast-forward a bit, trying to get to all of the director’s narrative features even if only for a minute (there’s hardly any time spent on “Cape Fear” or “Bringing Out the Dead” and “Hugo” gets skipped entirely), and starts to miss what makes Scorsese a transcendent force worthy of a five-episode docuseries.

Consider that other directors receive this kind of glowing documentary treatment (the series is dubbed a “film portrait,” which I feel is accurate), but even Spielberg and De Palma only got features. Scorsese is worth this long-form exploration, but not because he’s made so many movies or lived such a rich life. The biggest element that Miller opts to largely omit is his contribution to cinema as an artform beyond himself. We all know that Scorsese has made so many incredible movies, and credit to “Mr. Scorsese” for likely leading viewers to check-out some of his less-appreciated work like “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” and”Age of Innocence.” But to only include about a minute or so on The Film Foundation and the World Cinema Project in the docuseries’ final 20 minutes feels like misunderstanding why Scorsese is a unique force in film history.

Miller fully grasps Scorsese’s ongoing outsider status (after watching this, I now have no problem understanding why it took until “The Departed” for him to win Best Director and why “Killers of the Flower Moon” received 10 Oscar nominations and zero wins), but what elevates him as a rare figure are his larger contributions to restoring and supporting the art of cinema. I can understand not making time for his TV work like “Vinyl” and even skipping his music documentaries outside of “The Last Waltz.” But Scorsese, unlike almost any other major filmmaker, has used his power and influence to uplift cinema as an artform. No other mainstream director spends their time trying to figure out how to restore a movie like “Touki Bouki” and get it to a wider audience. Few other major directors make classic cinema such an ongoing cornerstone of their work and then, as in “Killers of the Flower Moon,” question how it crafted their flawed understanding of America. 

Perhaps that’s why the end of “Mr. Scorsese” can’t help but feel a little underwhelming. It’s certainly interesting that Scorsese felt dour and depressed while making “Shutter Island” and then upbeat and energetic during “Wolf of Wall Street,” but it would be a stretch to say this is unique to this one director. Exploring his movies does provide some insight to his character, beliefs and the way he has, for lack of a better word, mellowed over the course of his life to where he seems fairly settled and happy in his life with wife Helen and daughter Francesa in a way that eluded him in his relationships as a younger man.

It is, again, a portrait, and an essential one if only because it allows Scorsese to reflect on his life and work at length. But for a five-hour look at a master filmmaker, “Mr. Scorsese” still feels like it’s missing the bigger picture.

“Mr. Scorsese” premieres on Apple TV+ on Oct. 17.

The post ‘Mr. Scorsese’ Review: Apple Docuseries Is a Useful — if Not Overly Insightful — Chronicle of a Cinematic Titan appeared first on TheWrap.

The seven-part series, created by Oded Davidoff and Daniel Finkelman, presents the events of Oct. 7 in a real-time scripted format. Davidoff also wrote and directed on the series.

“One Day in October” stars Swell Ariel Or, Noa Kedar, Naomi Levov, Hisham Suliman, Wael Hamdoun, Yuval Semo, Avi Azulay, Naveh Tzur, Yael Abecassis, Moran Rosenblatt, Michael Aloni, Neta Roth, Sean Softi, Lior Ashkenazi and Uri Perelman. Writers include Liron Ben-Shlush, Amir Hasfari, Keren Weissman, Orit Dabush and Yona Rozenkier. Production is led by production led by Finkelman, Chaya Amor, Aviv Ben-Shlush, Lee Ben-Shlush Kuperman and FOX Entertainment Studios’ Fernando Szew, while Jim Berk and Sheldon Rabinowitz with Moriah Media executive produced. New York’s Sparks Go and Israeli production company ZOA additionally co-produced the series.

“The tragic events on October 7th had a profound impact on all of us,” Fernando Szew, President and Head of Fox Entertainment Studios, said in a press release. “From the very beginning, we approached this series with the utmost care, sensitivity and urgency to ensure that the stories were told with authenticity and respect and paying homage to the victims and the heroic survivors. Oded and the incredible cast, crew and teams at Sparks Go, ZOA and yes TV have truly created compelling storytelling that we are proud to showcase.  We appreciate Moriah Media for joining us on this project and to HBO Max for giving ‘One Day in October’ a platform in the U.S.”

“For me, film and television have always been more than entertainment, they are a way to bear witness. These are stories of ordinary people facing extraordinary moments,” said Daniel Finkelman, Founder of Sparks Go. “In a time when truth is fragile, the most powerful thing we can do is to appeal to humanity itself. My hope is that these stories will open hearts and spark meaningful conversation.”

The Trump administration is currently steering conversations between Israel and Hamas to return several hostages still held by Hamas and bring an end to hostilities that have resulted in the deaths of at least 60,000 people in Gaza.

The post ‘One Day in October’ Trailer Reveals HBO Max Drama Series About the Oct. 7 Terrorist Attack appeared first on TheWrap.

In the final moments of “Monster: The Ed Gein Story,” a nurse (played by Karly Rothenberg) turns to the killer who only has a few months to live and tells him he should set the record straight about his life.

“I think enough people have told my story, don’t you think?” Charlie Hunnam’s Ed Gein dreamily responds. “They seem to know it better than me.”

It’s a comment that captures the entire ethos of the latest installment of Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s Netflix anthology series. Ed Gein was a man who inspired three of the most influential horror movies of all time — “Psycho,” “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and “The Silence of the Lambs” — as well as serial killers like Richard Speck, Ed Kemper and Ted Bundy. Yet little is known about the man dubbed the Butcher of Plainfield.

“What I was interested in was the character study of this person that happened to spawn all of it and copycat killers, and then no one asked him what he thought,” Max Winkler, the series’ director and co-showrunner, told TheWrap.

When Murphy first pitched the idea of a season focusing on Gein, Winkler didn’t know who he was. But as he did more research into the man who killed two women and ransacked nine graves in his attempt to build a women suit, he became fascinated both with Gein himself and how this quiet Wisconsin man forever changed pop culture.

More than any of Murphy’s previous work, “The Ed Gein Story” explores how advances in technology have fueled our society’s bloodlust and the disastrous and unpredictable effects this has had. That throughline in the show starts with Gein himself, a man who becomes obsessed with the images of concentration camps that emerged after World War II. It’s commonly believed that Gein’s crime spree was the result of proof of these horrors entering the public space paired with comics that fetishized female Nazi members like Isle Koch, his abusive religious mother and Gein’s undiagnosed schizophrenia.

“What happens if you peel back the [Norman Rockwell] painting? What was really going on in the ’40s when people were getting imagery of Nazis and dead bodies that people mistake for wood because they were so stacked?” Winkler said. “We’re having these same conversations now.”

The impact of technology continues throughout nearly every iteration of Gein’s story. The series’ depiction of Alfred Hitchcock’s (Tom Hollander) “Psycho” doesn’t just explore how the film became wildly successful as it shocked the world. It depicts Hitchcock’s wife and editor Alma Reville (Olivia Williams) warning him that if he puts these horrors on screen, Hitchcock will be responsible for unleashing a genie that can never be put back into its bottle. It also depicts Hitchcock’s resentment and regret as he watches William Castle’s “The Night Walker,” a movie in the same vein as “Psycho” that trades the original’s thoughtful character reflection for ramped up gore.

It happens again with Tobe Hooper’s (Will Brill) “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre,” portraying the intentionally grotesque slasher as a mirror to the brutality of the Nixon administration and the Vietnam War. Hopper’s disgust over seeing dead children on his TV is even mentioned in “The Ed Gein Story.”

“We’re probably now at our lowest form with these little, quick things of absolute f–king horror that you can find on the internet if you want to search for them. But it started when Hitchcock made ‘Psycho.’ I’m sure there were other versions of it, but that moment where people really walked out of a theater and threw up,” Winkler said. “We never came back from it.”

How these movies impacted pop culture forced Winkler and the team behind the series to reflect on what exactly they were making, why they were making it and what impact it may have on society at large. Winkler likened this internal grappling with his feelings around Truman Capote’s nonfiction novel”In Cold Blood,” a book that is widely considered to be the prototypical true crime novel.

“Are you actually having a falling in heart with them, or are you just doing it because it’s good journalism and it’s going to sell books? It’s the question we ask as filmmakers, as documentarians, as writers, as consumers,” he said.

There were some changes the series made from the facts to make Gein’s story more compelling. A major one has to do with Evelyn Hartley (Addison Rae). In real life, the police determined that Gein wasn’t responsible for her disappearance after he failed a lie detector test. Because lie detectors have been known to make mistakes and forensic technology wasn’t as sophisticated in the ’50s as it is now, the team decided to credit their Gein as Hartley’s murderer.

“According to our research, it was irrefutable,” Winkler said of the decision.

Another major alteration has to do with Adeline Watkins (Suzanna Son). Shortly after Gein’s arrest, the real Watkins told the press she had a relationship with him and that Gein even proposed to her, though she turned him down. About two weeks after that first interview, Watkins then pulled back her comments, stating that the interview contained inaccuracies. But because Gein’s story focuses so much on a man grappling with his own inner demons, the “Monster” team expanded Watkins’ role as well as their relationship so that their Gein would have someone to interact with.

“I’d fallen in love with Suzanna Son’s acting from ‘Red Rocket’ and was so excited when we cast her,” Winkler said. “We had a hard time writing scenes for people with [Ed Gein], because he was alone so much of the time. So Adeline’s character became a sounding board for that.”

Ultimately, the show wants to tell Gein’s story accurately with as much tenderness as possible while still being respectful toward the victims.

“I have empathy for him, and I have sympathy for him. I don’t have sympathy for what he did,” Winkler explained. “Ed Gein was an extremely isolated, abused person in Plainfield, Wis., who was undiagnosed schizophrenic, had nobody to talk to, lived in this house completely alone. He seemed polite and kind enough that you’d pass him in the pharmacy and say, ‘Hey, Ed.’ The reason why he got away with it for so long is no one would ever think that sweet old Eddie Gein could ever be responsible for this stuff. But his inner life was vast because he was schizophrenic and he was exposed to the power of the image at a very ripe time in his life.”

And, as is always the case with “Monster,” this season asks who the real monster is.

“Is it [Nazi member] Ilse Koch? Is it Augusta Gein, his mother who abused him badly? Is it the American mental health institution at large? At its worst, we see that with Nixon in charge and in the ’70s in the finale. Is it us, the filmmakers who make these stories and take our vision of what Ed Gein did and why he did it and put it out to the world? Is it the filmmakers — the Hitchcocks, the Tobe Hoppers, the Jonathan Demmes, the Ryan Murphys, the Max Winklers? Or is it us, who keep consuming this?” Winkler said. “Why good art exists is it makes you, hopefully, challenge yourself and challenge art and culture at large and try to figure out what context, what container, you put this in, which I thought we were really successful with.”

The post ‘Monster: The Ed Gein Story’ Co-Showrunner Talks Horror’s Impact on Humanity and Finding Empathy, Answers Burning Questions appeared first on TheWrap.

“I don’t know if that’s true,” C.K. also said before he added, “Well, he’s a Muslim, David, so, you know, it depends on who you are and what you want to talk about. Now, if you go there, there’s a pre-decide, like, there’s a thing you buy into. ‘Do you want to work here, then don’t talk about these two things’. Other than that, my act is pretty offensive to most people. So it’s going to be interesting to see how that feels. To me, that’s just an opportunity.”

The festival has become a hot-button topic, dividing top comics – Like Bill Burr, who chose to perform and defended that decision – and David Cross, who slammed many of his former comedy heroes for choosing to perform in a country with preconditions on speech and a sketchy human-rights record.

The festival, which runs from September 26 to October 9, also features performances from Kevin Hart and Pete Davidson. Comedian Jessica Kirson, an openly gay woman whose sexuality has been a common thread through her performances for years, apologized Saturday for performing at the event.

“I hoped that this could help LGBTQ+ people in Saudi Arabia feel seen and valued. I am grateful that I was able to do precisely that — to my knowledge, I am the first openly gay comic to talk about it on stage in Saudi Arabia.” she told the Hollywood Reporter.

“I received messages from attendees sharing how much it meant to them to participate in a gay-affirming event. At the same time, I deeply regret participating under the auspices of the Saudi government,” Kirson added.

The post Bill Maher Shuts Down Dave Chappelle Claim That Saudi Arabia Allows More Free Speech Than the US | Video appeared first on TheWrap.

The Netflix series puts the spotlight on one infamous figure from the war – Ilse Koch. The woman performed a number of heinous acts on the prisoners of Buchenwald – including reportedly using the skin of those with tattoos to bind books and make lamp shades which led to Gein doing the same years later in Wisconsin.

Koch’s horrific acts earned her the nickname The Bitch of Buchenwald, and here is how the two were connected and what else she did that served as a catalyst to Gein.

Who is Ilse Koch?

Koch was a Nazi who was active during World War II. She was married to Karl-Otto Koch who was the commandant of the Buchenwald concentration camp. Her treatment of the prisoners of the camp earned her the nickname The Bitch of Buchenwald.

What did she do?

Koch tortured and flayed a number of Buchenwald’s prisoners. She reportedly had a number of tattooed prisoners skinned and used to bind books and to cover lampshades. She also implemented the camp’s prisoners as slave labor to work around her estate and build her an indoor riding arena for her personal use. A number of prisoners died during the forced labor required behind the project.

Koch committed suicide in prison in 1967. A note to her son reportedly read: “I cannot do otherwise. Death is the only deliverance.”

How was she connected to Ed Gein?

Koch is not technically connected at all to Ed Gein. But Gein read about the atrocities put through at the various concentration camps during World War II and became obsessed. In particular, Gein was drawn to Koch and the stories of her using human skin to make a variety of household items – most infamously lampshades.

Many point to his early exposure to the pulp magazine writing about Koch, Buchenwald and other WWII horrors were some of the first catalysts that pushed him toward his future crimes.

The post ‘Monster’: The Real History Behind Ilse Koch, The Nazi Featured in Netflix’s Ed Gein Series appeared first on TheWrap.

If those three movies seem too tonally separate to be based on the same man, that’s kind of the point. More than most famous killers, Gein’s story has been defined by contradictory tellings. Based on some of the most shocking moments from the Netflix original, here’s what’s true in “The Ed Gein Story” and here’s what was embellished.

Ed Gein was fascinated by WWII and Nazi Germany: Possibly

That’s a common theory around the killer. Around the time Gein started committing his crimes, more reports and photographs from World War II emerged, exposing the world to the horrors of Nazi Germany. James Buddy Day, the director of “Psycho: The Lost Tapes of Ed Gein,” noted that Gein owned several detective magazines that detailed the horrors inflicted upon people in concentration camps.

“We actually went back … and you could actually find literal descriptions of things Gein must have read and took, then did, because they match what they found in his house exactly,” Day told Movieweb in 2023.

One of the most direct examples of this has to do with the German war criminal Ilse Koch. The wife of Karl-Otto Koch who ran the Buchenwald concentration camp, she was known for her sadistic cruelty. Over 277,800 people were held prisoner at the camp, and about 56,000 people died before the camp was liberated in 1945. The S.S. in Buchenwald were known for crafting “gifts” made of human remains. Many accused her of owning a lampshade made of tattooed human skin, but those accusations were dropped during her trial as they were made without proof.

Koch was nicknamed “The Bitch of Buchenwald” as well as “The Witch of Buchenwald.” Though TheWrap was unable to find the exact comic referenced in “Monster: The Ed Gein Story,” sexualized comics detailing the atrocities the Nazis committed did exist. Koch died by suicide in 1967 while in prison.

Gein dated Adeline Watkins: True

Watkins and Gein did have a relationship, but it wasn’t as intense as what appears on Netflix. Shortly after Gein’s arrest, Adeline Watkins told the Minneapolis Tribune that she almost married Gein. In the original article, she described the killer and grave robber as “good and kind and sweet.” Watkins claimed their romance lasted for 20 years and that they talked about books and “every murder that we ever heard about.” She also noted that she sometimes felt she was taking advantage of him and that she was the one who ended their relationship.

“I turned him down, but not because there was anything wrong with him. It was something wrong with me,” Watkins said at the time. “I guess I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to live up to what he expected of me.”

Roughly two weeks later, Watkins gave another interview with the Stevens Point Journal, stating that her relationship with Gein “was blown up out of proportion to its importance ” and that her first interview contained untrue statements. In that second article, she said that she had known Gein for 20 years but only regularly interacted with him after 1954. She also said Gein “called on her” for seven months and refuted calling him “sweet.”

Gein killed Evelyn Hartley: False

At least it’s false according to authorities. Hartley disappeared at the age of 15 in the middle of Gein’s crime spree. In October of 1953, she was babysitting a 20-month-old child. When the baby’s father returned, he found that the doors were locked but furniture throughout the house had been scattered. Though his child was safe, Hartley was nowhere to be found.

A 1,000-person search unit comprised of police officers, Boy Scouts and National Guards looked for Hartley but were unsuccessful. After Gein’s arrest, he became a suspect in the unsolved case. However, the police ultimately dismissed Gein as a suspect.

Some still believe Gein was guilty of her murder, largely because lie detectors can be tricked. When the team behind “Monster: The Ed Gein Story” did their own research around the Hartley disappearance, they walked away thinking it was “irrefutable” that Gein was responsible, series director and co-showrunner told TheWrap.

However, there’s no proof that Gein stalked Hartley after she resumed her babysitting job. That flourish seems as though it was added for dramatic effect and to piece together Gein’s relationship with Watkins.

Gein chased people with a chainsaw: False

That seems to be an invention from “Texas Chain Saw Massacre” director Tobe Hooper. He partially came up with the idea for the revolutionary horror movie while waiting in line a hardware store around Christmas time. Hooper became so agitated by the shoppers around him that he imagined grabbing a chainsaw from a nearby display and mowing down everyone around him.

That was the spark that led to the 1974 indie flick. Hooper and Kim Henkel also drew inspiration from Gein as well as Elmer Wayne Henley, who was involved in the Houston Mass Murders. Specifically, Gein’s creation of a mask made of a human face as well as the way he dissected and strung up Bernice Worden inspired Leatherface.

Gein had sex with the bodies he dug from graves: False

In the Netflix show, Charlie Hunnam’s Gein is shown having sex with a corpse on at lease one occasion. He even refuses to have sex with Adeline (Suzanna Son) because she’s “too warm.”

But the real Gein denied ever having sex with either of the women he murdered or with the bodies he exhumed. Gein said the bodies smelled too bad.

Gein gave his neighbors meat from corpses, claiming it was venison: Possibly

According to locals, Gein was known to give residents of Plainfield meat that he claimed was venison. However, Gein was not know to be a deer hunter, which has led some to wonder if the meat he gifted people actually came from graves.

“Another resident, who was allegedly given ‘venison’ by Gein, politely but firmly closes the door in my face,” Scott Hassett wrote in Isthmus in a piece published in 2007.

Gein helped catch Ted Bundy: False

This is just another example of Gein’s mental illness and inability to separate fact from fiction.

Gein’s tombstone was stolen: True

Though Gein died in 1984, this happened around 2000. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that the tombstone was stolen and added as part of the “Angry White Male Tour.”

The post Breaking Down Fact and Fiction in ‘Monster: The Ed Gein Story’ appeared first on TheWrap.

Burchett appeared with Benny Johnson, the same conservative activist and podcaster whose interview with FCC chair Brendan Carr included a veiled threat toward ABC mere hours before Disney briefly pulled Jimmy Kimmel off the air.

Speaking with Burchett, Johnson brought up “Dead End: Paranormal Park,” the animated fantasy/horror comedy series based on the graphic novel “DeadEndia,” which premiered on Netflix in 2022. The main character is Barney Guttman, a transgender teen.

A clip from the show in which Barney declares transgender identity recently went viral, and was reposted by Elon Musk, who urged his followers to cancel Netflix.

“Would you be in favor of the Netflix leadership being asked to testify for this?,” Johnson asked Burchett.

“Here’s what I want to do on this one because the First Amendment and all that is involved in it,” Burchett said. “I’m gonna follow up with my folks, after we get off. I’m gonna call them and say ‘Which committee can they be brought in front of – I think we have to look at, who regulates the FCC, and since it’s cable [sic: streaming] does that count, I don’t know.”

Since the clip went viral, the show’s creator, Hamish Steele, has reportedly received homophobic and antisemitic messages. Netflix did not immediately respond Saturday to a request for comment.

“They need to be brought in,” Burchett said. “We need to find out what their agenda is, and why they’re pushing this stuff. Because from what I understand, that little cartoon is the No. 1-rated cartoon on their show.”

Burchett noted that “I know some gay folks” and suggested they are unhappy with how transgender rights are being “lumped in” with LGBT community activism. The congressman said “Dead End: Paranormal Park” goes beyond inclusive representation.

“That right there is recruiting,” he said. “That is grooming. That is the worst of the worst, because they’re taking young minds, and they know they can do that.”

The post GOP Rep Threatens to Bring Netflix Execs Before Congress Over ‘Dead End: Paranormal Park’ Trans Character | Video appeared first on TheWrap.

“I hoped that this could help LGBTQ+ people in Saudi Arabia feel seen and valued. I am grateful that I was able to do precisely that — to my knowledge, I am the first openly gay comic to talk about it on stage in Saudi Arabia.” she told the Hollywood Reporter.

“I received messages from attendees sharing how much it meant to them to participate in a gay-affirming event. At the same time, I deeply regret participating under the auspices of the Saudi government,” Kirson added.

The festival, which runs from September 26 to October 9, also features performances from Dave Chappelle, Kevin Hart and Pete Davidson.

Comedian Atsuko Okatsuka previously shared that she turned down an invitation from festival organizers and shared a portion of the event’s contract online that read: “ARTIST shall not prepare or perform any material that may be considered to degrade, defame or bring into public disrepute, contempt, scandal, embarrassment, or ridicule: A) The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, including its leadership, public figures, culture or people; B) The Saudi royal family, legal system, or government, and; C) Any religion, religious tradition, religious figure or religious practice.”

Kirson’s full statement is below:

“On Sept. 29, I performed at the Riyadh Comedy Festival. This decision has weighed heavily on my heart ever since. I like to express my sincere regret for having performed under a government that continues to violate fundamental human rights.”

“I want to share the context for my decision — not as an excuse, but because the people who have trusted me deserve to hear from me. As an artist, my mission has always been to help people feel less alone. As an openly gay person, when I was asked to perform in Riyadh, I was surprised. I requested a guarantee that I could be openly out as a lesbian on stage and perform gay material. I hoped that this could help LGBTQ+ people in Saudi Arabia feel seen and valued. I am grateful that I was able to do precisely that — to my knowledge, I am the first openly gay comic to talk about it on stage in Saudi Arabia. I received messages from attendees sharing how much it meant to them to participate in a gay-affirming event. At the same time, I deeply regret participating under the auspices of the Saudi government.”

“I have donated the entirety of what I was paid to perform there to a human rights organization. I made this decision because I want that money to go to an organization that can help combat these severe issues.”

“I respect my fellow comics who have spoken out against the festival, and we should all be able to share our perspectives. I recognize the concerns and criticism this has raised. I hope that this moment sparks dialogue about how we can use our platforms for good — to support people without a voice and to find ways to be less divided. In the past, I’ve faced criticism for choices I’ve made, both on and off stage, and I rarely responded. This time, I felt I needed to speak up. I could not remain silent.”

“Most importantly, I am deeply sorry to all the fans and followers I have hurt or disappointed. I have a special relationship with my fans because of the vulnerable nature of my comedy and the trust they place in me as part of the queer community. To my fans: I see you. I hear you. Your voice matters to me. I love you all, and I am genuinely sorry for making a poor decision that had repercussions I didn’t fully consider. I will take full responsibility for my actions and dedicate myself to making amends, so that my words and choices reflect the respect and care you deserve.”

The post Gay Comedian Jessica Kirson Apologizes for Saudi Arabia Festival Appearance: ‘I Deeply Regret Participating’ appeared first on TheWrap.

The Oscar winner made his way onto the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” stage during Friday’s episode, where he dressed in a neon furry mascot costume — reminiscent of Frankie Focus, the new mascot introduced by Governor Kathy Hochul to help kids focus in school.

At first, it wasn’t clear that Damon was under the furry headpiece. However, when the mascot began insulting Kimmel, viewers were clued in that the comedian’s longtime nemesis (as part of a long-running “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” gag) was inside the costume.

“Stop cheering for him. This is breaking and entering,” Kimmel told the audience. “Again! You’ve done this before.”

Damon proceeded to explain the reason for his impromptu visit: “I wore this costume because it’s the last chance to get on the show. I know we’ve had our differences over the years. But, I wanted to be here tonight for your last show ever.”

Here’s where Kimmel had to break the news to his famous frenemy. “This isn’t my last show ever,” Kimmel said. “We have a show Monday.”

Damon responded, “No, but the president cancelled you — which I was a big fan of, by the way. I mean, when he said you had zero ratings and no talent, I was like, ‘I’ve been saying that for years.'”

Watch the full bit below.

The Damon-Kimmel feud dates back to 2005, when during a Season 3 episode the late night host jokingly apologized to the actor for bumping him as they “ran out of time.”

Damon was never actually scheduled to be on the show, but it became a running joke that Kimmel never allowed Damon to appear as a guest on his show. Over the years, Damon has had to “sneak” onto “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” with the help of his celebrity peers, including Ben Affleck and Sarah Silverman.

“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. ET on ABC.

The post Matt Damon Surprises Jimmy Kimmel, Reignites Feud Bit: ‘Zero Ratings and No Talent’ | Video appeared first on TheWrap.