The Puerto Rican singer and rapper was announced Tuesday as the main performer for Super Bowl 26, despite never recording any songs (fully) in English and his ongoing refusal to tour in the United States, saying he fears immigration officials would target his audience.

“The Bunny Guy has been selected to be the halftime entertainment – I don’t care,” O’Reilly chuckled on his “No Spin News” show this week. “But it’s such a good story.”

To give his viewers a taste of what’s to come, O’Reilly played a brief clip from one of his music videos.

“That was good, huh? Not exactly The Four Tops, but I’m an old guy and you can make fun of me,” O’Reilly said. “Go ahead. OK, so that’s Bad Bunny. Doesn’t sing songs in English. Never had an English song. But he does speak English.”

O’Reilly made note of the NFL’s current era of halftime artists – Kendrick Lamar, Usher, Rihanna, Eminem, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg – comes courtesy of Roc Nation founder Jay-Z, who books the league’s entertainment. The Bad Bunny selection sparked backlash for his lack of English lyrics and stance on immigration politics – but O’Reilly didn’t flinch at any of that.

“Is this uh, ‘Good for America?,” O’Reilly mused, chuckling. “I don’t think it’s bad for America. I mean, most people watching aren’t going to be that favorable to the Bunny Guy, but I don’t know if it’s a deficit,” playing a clip of the artist [real name: Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio] explaining his concerns about ICE posting up outside his concert venues.

When asked this week whether ICE really planned to target the show at the home of the San Francisco 49ers, DHS secretary Kristi Noem said agents will be “all over that place.”

“So, the Bunny guy is is afraid to come here,” O’Reilly said. “OK, at least he’s honest, right? I like the Bunny being honest. … So, I could reassure you BB – a little nickname I’m giving him – you can tour in the United States. ICE is not going to bother you. And if they bother you, I’ll help you. I’ll actually uh go wherever you are. You call me … and I’ll actually go where you are until ICE knock it off.”

As for the performance itself, O’Reilly says “The Bunny Guy” has a short leash to keep him entertained.

“I give everybody a chance,” O’Reilly said. “I’m going to give Bad Bunny a chance. Bad Bunny’s got like three-and-a-half minutes with me. If he arrests my attention, I’ll watch the rest. If he doesn’t, I’m gone.”

But he doubled down on his offer for whatever support he can give: “You come to the USA. Anybody hassles you, you let me know.”

Watch the entire segment – and hear who O’Reilly would have liked to see perform at the Super Bowl halftime show – in the video above.

The post Bill O’Reilly Defends Bad Bunny Super Bowl Pick, Offers to ‘Help’ if ICE Interferes: ‘Call Me’ | Video appeared first on TheWrap.

Charli xcx opened up for Swift during her Reputation tour, but many fans believe there is some sort of discord or feud simmering between the pair.

“And all of a sudden they start doing too much and they start letting you know that actually, you’ve been living in their head rent-free and you had no idea,” she continued.

She added, “It’s presenting itself as them sort of resenting you or having a problem with you but you take that and just accept it as love and you accept it as attention and affection, and how flattering that somebody has made you such a big part of their reality when you didn’t even think about this. It’s actually pretty romantic if you really think about it.”

The song hints at a friendship gone wrong. Swift sings, “High-fived my ex and then said you’re glad he ghosted me / Wrote me a song sayin’ it makes you sick to see my face / Some people might be offended.”

In the chorus, she adds, “But it’s actually sweet / All the time you’ve spent on me. It’s honestly wild / All the effort you’ve put in / It’s actually romantic / I really gotta hand it to you / No man has ever loved me like you do.”

The post Taylor Swift Clarifies ‘Actually Romantic’ Song Meaning Amid Charli Xcx Feud Rumors 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.

The news was confirmed by Fox Sports via X.

“Mark Sanchez was injured in Indianapolis on Saturday and is currently recovering in the hospital in stable condition,” the broadcaster explained. “We are deeply grateful to the medical team for their exceptional care and support. Our thoughts and prayers are with Mark, and we ask that everyone please respect his and his family’s privacy during this time.”

Sanchez joined the network as a sports analyst in July 2021.

TMZ reported authorities in Indianapolis received a phone call reporting the stabbing at approximately 12:30 a.m. Saturday morning. Sanchez was scheduled to call the Colts vs. Raiders game at Lucas Oil Stadium on Sunday.

Sanchez played for USC from 2005 to 2008 and was drafted by the New York Jets as the No. 5 overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft.

The post Former USC and NFL Quarterback Mark Sanchez in Critical Condition After Indianapolis Stabbing 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.

Gein has been a major inspiration for a number of major films and TV shows. The infamous killer was known for graverobbing from cemeteries and using the skin from the bodies to make suits, masks, lampshades and more. Those horrific acts were bound to draw Hollywood’s eye eventually.

Below are 5 horror films and TV shows that were inspired by Gein and his dark deeds.

The Silence of the Lambs

Ed Gein served as the primary inspiration for Buffalo Bill in “The Silence of the Lambs.” Buffalo Bill is as close to a one-to-one comp that you could get without just making the character the real person. From the skin lamps to the flesh suits, Gein’s inspiration is all over the film, which helped ignite new interest in the real killer.

Psycho

Ed Gein and his mother had a problematic relationship that was famously reflected in Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho.” Gein both feared and loved his mom, and it was after her death that he began to fashion his “mother suit” from the bodies he exhumed from graveyards. Norman Bates also struggled with his feelings toward his mother, which led to his own killings in the film.

Likewise, both Gein’s home and the infamous Bates Motel became horror houses of sorts for how the real and fictional men stored and hid their crimes.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” director Tobe Hooper was directly inspired by Ed Gein and his crimes. With a villain called Leatherface, some of that inspiration is pretty obvious. Gein made skin suits and masks from the bodies he exhumed from graveyards and Leatherface also wears the skin of his victims as masks.

Gein might not have used a chainsaw on those he killed, but he did hang bodies he acquired on hooks, much like Leatherface does in the various “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” films.

Deranged

“Deranged” has all the usual inspirations for a film loosely based on Ed Gein – a man overly obsessed with his mother who falls to killing and grave robbing in the wake of her death. The skin suits follow, the lamp shades and jars of nipples are there. But what “Deranged” gets better than many others is the sense of place.

Gein killed in Wisconsin and lived in a rural, out-of-the-way home that added to the creepy appeal of a home full of skin suits. “Deranged” nails that unsettling feeling.

American Horror Story: Asylum

There could have been lots of ways “American Horror Story” could have adapted an Ed Gein storyline into the series. The opportunity presented itself in “American Horror Story: Asylum” through Zachary Quinto’s character Dr. Oliver Thredson.

Thredson blends two ends of “The Silence of the Lambs” in both Hannibal Lecter and Buffalo Bill – and by proxy Ed Gein. The doctor is a psychiatrist like Lecter was in the books and films, but moonlights as a sadistic monster who makes skin suits, masks and objects like Gein/Buffalo Bill.

The post 5 Horror Movies and Shows Inspired by Ed Gein 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.

This scene may be even more personal to Anderson than fans realized.

This article contains spoilers for “One Battle After Another.” If you haven’t seen the film yet, do yourself a favor and head to a theater before reading on.

“One Battle After Another” follows Bob and Willa Ferguson, an ex-revolutionary and his daughter who find themselves separated when a former enemy comes knocking on their door. As Willa attempts to evade Col. Steven J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn), Bob — who has settled into a permanent high with his best days behind him — enlists the help of her karate sensei in a quest to find her.

On the road to find Willa, Bob confides in Sensei Sergio, sharing the struggles he’s had as the single father of a mixed-race daughter. In a particularly touching moment from DiCaprio, Bob shares that he never learned how to do Willa’s hair.

Fans quickly noticed similarities between this scene and Anderson’s longtime partner, Maya Rudolph — particularly, a 2018 New York Times profile where Rudolph discussed her own single father.

“Rudolph’s father — in her words, a ‘pretty adorable Jew’ — did not know how to do his daughter’s hair after his wife’s death,” Caity Weaver’s article reads. “‘So much of my childhood was dealing with my hair and being super embarrassed by it, mainly because I grew up being the only mixed kid,’ (Rudolph) said.”

Audiences have already drawn comparisons between Anderson and Bob, insisting that his own experience as the father of mixed-race children influenced the insecurities felt by DiCaprio’s protagonist. The revelation that this speech from Bob could be directly pulled from his partner’s own upbringing makes the moment all the more touching.

The scene between Bob and Sergio lies at the heart of many of the themes presented in “One Battle After Another.” When Bob — then known as “Ghetto Pat” — was a part of the French 75 revolutionary group, he fell in love with Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor). After Pat and Perfidia had a child (then known as Charlene), however, they quickly became distant, with Perfidia, in the midst of postpartum depression, struggling to balance her roles as a mother, partner and revolutionary leader against each other. Eventually, she becomes separated from her family, leaving Pat a single father in hiding.

Many have noted that, in the main events of “One Battle After Another,” Bob, who feels guilty over inadvertently drafting Willa into her life-threatening situation, accomplishes relatively little. Though he spends the film chasing after Willa, she gets out of her dire situation without his direct assistance. When Bob has the opportunity to kill Lockjaw himself, he misses the shot. By the time he arrives, Willa has dispatched her final threat on her own. Even as a revolutionary, he failed to leave the world better than he found it.

But it was Bob who taught Willa everything she knows, instilling the knowledge and defensive abilities she uses to survive into his daughter from a young age. Bob urges Willa to take a trust device with her to her school dance, a move that almost certainly saves her life. He may not have saved Willa himself, but Bob arrived in time to give her a shoulder to cry on, drive her home and let her know she’s OK.

“One Battle After Another” is, at its core, a metaphor for parenthood — with the film’s climactic scene literally showing a teenager take their first drive. Bob can’t protect his daughter from the world, nor can he watch over her shoulder for her entire life. Yet he can help prepare her for when danger does come knocking, and be there for her when it’s all over.

Bob doesn’t know how to do Willa’s hair, and he certainly didn’t fix the world. But, as a father, he was there when it mattered.

The post An Emotional ‘One Battle After Another’ Scene Has a Touching Real-Life Parallel appeared first on TheWrap.