Organizers for the South of France festival, which runs May 12-23, laid out a lineup heavy on big-name international auteurs at a news conference Thursday in Paris.

Cannes’ most sought-after slots are in its competition lineup. This year, 21 films will vie for the Palme d’Or. That includes “Fatherland,” a Cold War drama starring Sandra Hüller by Pawlikowski (“Ida,” “Cold War” ); “Sudden,” the French language debut for Hamaguchi ( “Drive My Car” ); and Almodovar’s “Bitter Christmas.”

Cannes is so far light on Hollywood releases and American filmmakers. One exception in competition is Ira Sachs' “The Man I Love,” a New York tale starring Rami Malek set during the 1980s AIDS crisis. In the Un Certain Regard sidebar, Jane Schoenbrun will unveil their follow-up to 2014’s “I Saw the TV Glow”: “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma,” about the making of a slasher movie. It stars Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson.

Previous Palme d’Or winners will be represented

A number of former Palme winners are in the mix. That includes Romanian auteur Cristian Mungiu’s Norway-set “Fjord,” starring the recently Oscar-nominated Renate Reinsve and Sebastian Stan. Mungiu’s “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days” won the Palme in 2007.

Also returning is Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda, whose 2018 drama “Shoplifters” won the Palme. He’ll debut the sci-fi “Sheep in the Box,” about a grieving couple in the near future who bring home a humanoid boy as their son.

The specialty distributor Neon has already boarded “Fjord,” “Sheep in the Box” and “Sudden,” giving it a chance to extend its historic record of six Palme winners in a row. Last year, the Neon release “It Was Just an Accident,” by Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, won the Palme.

Neon is also behind an out of competition selection in “Her Private Hell” by Nicolas Winding Refn, the “Drive” filmmaker. A thriller starring Sophie Thatcher and Charles Melton, it's Refn's first feature film since 2016's “The Neon Demon.”

Festival defends the ‘ability to dream and think freely’

The Russian filmmaker Andrey Zvyagintsev is also back in the Cannes competition lineup with “Minotaur.” Zvyagintsev's last two films, “Loveless” and “Leviathan,” both debuted at Cannes and went on to land Oscar nominations.

Other competition entries include films by Asghar Farhadi (“Parallel Stories”), Lukas Dhont (“Coward”) and Lazlo Nemes (“Moulin”).

Thierry Fremaux, Cannes’ artistic director, announced the selections in a news conference alongside festival president Iris Knobloch. Fremaux said that 2,541 feature films were submitted for inclusion.

“In this moment, bringing together films and artists from around the world is not a luxury, it’s a necessity," Knobloch said. "Because when the world darkens, we lose our bearings. Showcasing films from all horizons is not a trivial act. It is defending what is most precious to humanity, its ability to dream and think freely.”

Cannes is coming off a 2025 festival that produced a number of Oscar contenders, including two best-picture nominees in Joachim Tier’s “Sentimental Value” and Kleber Mendonça Filho’s “The Secret Agent.” This year’s Cannes appears well positioned to continue the festival’s stature as the global launching pad of many of the year’s best international films, some of which are bound to show up at next year’s Oscars.

Hollywood studios are less present at Cannes this year

But Hollywood studios appear to be a no-show. Fremaux has said not to expect red carpet premieres like “Top Gun: Maverick” or “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning” — both of which made splashy premieres in recent years. This year, Cannes announced ahead of the Paris news conference that John Travolta's directorial debut “Propeller One-Way Night Coach” will debut in the Cannes Premiere section.

“The United States will be present, but the studios will be a bit less so,” Fremaux said. “It’s important to know that when studios are less present at Cannes, it means they are generally less present with the type of cinema that used to allow them to thrive.”

Two prominent American directors will debut documentaries in special screenings: Steven Soderbergh with “John Lennon: The Last Interview” and Ron Howard with “Avedon,” about the photographer Richard Avedon.

Opening the festival, out of competition, is the 1920s French film “The Electric Kiss.” Cannes requires its opening movie to release the same week in French cinemas. And entry to its prestigious competition lineup requires theatrical distribution, a stipulation that — given France’s laws guarding theatrical windows — has excluded Netflix movies and other streaming titles since 2017.

This year, the Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook will preside over the nine-member jury that will decide the Palme. And a pair of honorary Palmes will be handed out, to Barbra Streisand and to Peter Jackson.

Munn described the episode as part of a broader pattern of challenging dynamics she has encountered during action‑oriented roles, where her characters often hold positions of authority, such as intelligence officers or law enforcement officials. She said this particular dispute was notable for how openly and confidently the male actor rejected a storyline in which a woman’s actions ensured his character’s survival.

According to Munn, the incident occurred while filming an action sequence set in an underground bunker where her character and the male co‑star were engaged in a gun battle, each covering different angles. She explained that the script called for the two characters to switch sides before an enemy approached the male character from behind, prompting her character to shoot the attacker and effectively save him from being shot in the back.

Munn said the dispute began as cameras were preparing to roll, when it appeared to dawn on the actor that the choreography placed her character in the position of rescuer. She recalled him suddenly objecting and stopping the scene, reportedly saying variations of “Wait, wait, wait. Hold on. She can’t save me. No, no. She can’t save me,” in front of the assembled crew.

The actor’s reaction, Munn said, indicated that he either had not fully read or had not fully processed the implications of the script prior to stepping on set. Several outlets report that Munn described his response as loud and emphatic, with no apparent concern about how his comments might be received by colleagues listening nearby.

Munn said that after voicing his objection, the actor became combative with the director, openly challenging the creative decision to have his character’s life saved by a woman, which led to filming being halted. She estimated that the disagreement stalled production for about 45 minutes while crew members waited for a resolution.

The dispute, as recounted by Munn, centered not on logistics or safety but on the optics of having a male character reliant on a woman’s intervention in a high‑stakes action moment. Reporting on her comments, multiple outlets characterized the situation as an example of gendered expectations shaping on‑set power dynamics in Hollywood.

Munn noted that the actor appeared fully at ease making his objections loudly enough for everyone to hear, saying there was “no insecurity about being obnoxious and everyone hearing this.” She described the confrontation as unfolding in front of the entire crew rather than in a private conversation, further underscoring the impact on everyone working that day.

To get filming back on track, Munn said she eventually proposed a compromise that reframed the moment without changing the physical beats of the scene. She recalled suggesting that instead of describing the moment as her character “saving” his, the script could emphasize that the two characters simply switched sides as part of their tactical plan, with the attacker who threatened him becoming “her guy to get.”

According to Munn, the male co‑star accepted this revised explanation, allowing production to proceed. She emphasized, however, that “nothing changed” about what her character actually did on screen: she still fired the same shot at the same attacker, with the only alteration being how the action was framed in the narrative.

Coverage of Munn’s remarks has highlighted this detail as revealing the extent to which perception and language can shape comfort levels with on‑screen gender roles, even when the underlying plot mechanics remain identical. The episode has been framed as an illustration of how some performers may be more willing to accept women characters in combat roles if those roles are described in ways that do not explicitly position them as rescuers of men.

Munn has not publicly named the film, director, or male co‑star involved in the dispute, and outlets reporting on her comments note that she refrained from identifying him on The Drew Barrymore Show. As of April 9, 2026, there have been no widely reported public responses from the unnamed co‑star or from the production that might further contextualize the incident.

Multiple outlets have framed Munn’s story within a longer history of women in Hollywood encountering resistance when their characters occupy traditionally masculine spaces, such as military, law enforcement, or espionage roles that include physical heroism. In this context, Munn’s account has prompted renewed conversation about how gendered expectations and notions of masculinity can shape storytelling choices and on‑set negotiations.

As entertainment and culture outlets amplify Munn’s remarks, commentators have linked the story to wider discussions about representation, noting that pushback against women—and, in other contexts, LGBTQ+ people and people of color—occupying heroic or authoritative roles can influence both casting and narrative decisions. Articles summarizing Munn’s account describe it as one example among many in which behind‑the‑scenes negotiations over ego, status, and identity have tangible consequences for how action sequences and character arcs ultimately appear on screen.

Munn’s comments also arrive at a time when industry conversations around inclusion increasingly emphasize not just who appears in films and series, but who gets to be portrayed as competent, brave, and central to the resolution of conflict. For many advocates and observers, the story underscores how power dynamics on set can shape the range of stories told about women and other underrepresented groups, including LGBTQ+ people, even when those stories involve straightforward action beats like who gets to pull the trigger in a life‑or‑death moment.

Headey, known for her work as Cersei Lannister on Game of Thrones, brings an established genre presence to the series’ supernatural, gothic world. McCarthy, associated with 1980s classics such as St. Elmo’s Fire, and Lance, recognized for his role on Ted Lasso, round out a trio that adds both veteran star power and comic-drama experience to Wednesday’s third season ensemble.

As of this announcement, Netflix has not publicly disclosed character names or detailed storylines for Headey, McCarthy or Lance, keeping their narrative roles under wraps. Their addition is positioned as part of a broader strategy to deepen Wednesday’s world with a mix of established film and television figures whose careers span fantasy, horror, drama and comedy.

Headey, McCarthy and Lance join a slate of previously announced Season 3 newcomers that includes Eva Green, Winona Ryder, Chris Sarandon, Noah Taylor, Oscar Morgan and Kennedy Moyer. Reporting from Netflix-focused outlet What’s on Netflix notes that Sarandon, Taylor, Morgan and Moyer were revealed earlier as part of a “fresh batch of outcasts and normies” heading to Nevermore Academy.

According to that coverage, Sarandon is best known for roles in Dog Day Afternoon and The Princess Bride, as well as voicing Jack Skellington in The Nightmare Before Christmas, while Taylor’s credits include Peaky Blinders and Game of Thrones. Oscar Morgan is cited as a rising performer seen in Gotham Knights with upcoming work in the Game of Thrones spin-off A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, and Kennedy Moyer is described as a newcomer with projects such as the HBO series Task and the true-crime film Roofman.

Eva Green and Winona Ryder were previously announced as significant additions, with Green set to play Ophelia, described as Morticia Addams’ long-lost sister in other coverage of Season 3 casting news. Ryder, long associated with both Beetlejuice and other Tim Burton collaborations, is joining in a guest role that has been intentionally kept secret to preserve narrative surprises.

Returning to anchor Season 3 is Jenna Ortega, who will once again portray Wednesday Addams, the central character of the series. Dread Central’s report lists a large group of returning performers, including Fred Armisen, Emma Myers, Hunter Doohan, Joy Sunday, Moosa Mostafa, Georgie Farmer, Isaac Ordonez, Billie Piper, Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo, Victor Dorobantu and Evie Templeton.

Luis Guzmán and Catherine Zeta-Jones will also return to their roles as Gomez and Morticia Addams, joined again by Joanna Lumley, who previously appeared in the series and has been described elsewhere as a Season 2 presence now elevated in prominence. The continuation of this core ensemble signals that Wednesday will keep its intergenerational Addams Family structure while expanding around Nevermore Academy and the surrounding world.

On the creative side, creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar are returning as showrunners for Season 3, ensuring continuity of tone and narrative approach from earlier seasons. Tim Burton, who helped define the series’ visual and thematic style, is also back as an executive producer and director, reinforcing the show’s gothic aesthetic and darkly comic atmosphere.

Netflix and multiple outlets report that production on Wednesday Season 3 is currently underway near Dublin, Ireland. What’s on Netflix describes cameras “officially rolling near Dublin” and frames the new season as an “incredibly dark and twisted third outing” in a statement credited to showrunners Gough and Millar.

In that statement, the showrunners say it is their “dark delight” to reopen Nevermore Academy’s gates as Season 3 begins production, thanking cast and crew for their “commitment to doom and gloom.” They also directly acknowledge fan engagement, referencing “ravenous online commentary” and “twisted theories” that they say have “inspired nightmares,” and suggest that the new season will introduce “new students, new teachers” and “long-rotting Addams Family secrets,” while warning audiences not to say they were not warned.

While some prior reporting has speculated on an approximate release window for Season 3, the outlets covering the latest casting developments emphasize that there is still no confirmed premiere date from Netflix for the new episodes. Any specific release timing beyond the fact of continuing production remains subject to official confirmation and therefore cannot be treated as final.

Wednesday has attracted a wide audience in part through its focus on an offbeat, outsider heroine and a diverse ensemble cast, drawing interest from viewers across age groups, genders and sexual orientations. As production continues on Season 3 with its enlarged cast, fans, including many LGBTQ+ viewers who see themselves reflected in the show’s themes of otherness and chosen community, are watching closely for how the new stories will handle identity, belonging and difference.

Recent casting announcements underscore the series’ reliance on performers with established genre credentials and cult followings, which can foster strong fandom engagement and online speculation around character dynamics and possible queer subtext. However, neither Netflix nor the cited outlets have, to date, detailed specific plotlines for LGBTQ+ characters or confirmed how Season 3 will explicitly address queer themes, leaving those questions open until official story information or on-screen content becomes available.

For now, the most concrete developments are the confirmed signings of Headey, McCarthy and Lance, the returning creative and acting teams, and the ongoing shoot in Ireland, all of which signal that Wednesday’s next chapter will continue to build on a blend of gothic horror, deadpan humor and character-driven drama. Until Netflix releases a trailer or further official synopses, details of how these new and returning performers will intersect on screen remain deliberately undisclosed.

When Anna (Halle Bailey), our charming hero in this travel-porn rom-com, arrives in Italy for an open-ended stay, she’s carrying a purse and a tote. You could fit maybe a water bottle, a paperback and one change of clothes in that tote. Much later, when she's preparing to leave, she’s carrying the same miraculous, featherlight tote that allegedly held all her lovely outfits — plus shoes!

What is she, Mary Poppins with the carpet bag? We’re not asking for gritty social realism here, people, but would it have hurt to give her a wheelie?

OK, rant over — but see, that weightless luggage is a perfect metaphor for “You Me & Tuscany,” directed by Kat Coiro, a movie as frothy and insubstantial as the foam on a nice cappuccino. It’s also about as believable as some of the woefully stereotypical Italian characters here. The gardener, Giuseppe, for example: He looks like Pavarotti and sings soaring arias each morning as he prunes the bushes. We rest our case.

But hey, we’re in Tuscany. And it’s gorgeous. And so is Regé-Jean Page, the love interest for Anna — but even the dashing “Bridgerton” star disappears next to those stunning rolling hills and vineyards. And then there’s the culinary porn — including the most perfect bruschetta you’ve ever seen. But we’ll get to that.

We begin in New York. Anna awakes in her chic apartment with a to-die-for view, makes a cappuccino, puts on designer duds and takes the upscale dog for a walk. But when she returns, the house’s real owner (Nia Vardalos) is there, furious to see Anna in her clothes.

You see, Anna is merely the house-sitter. A professional house-sitter. It's her career! No, we didn't know that was a thing either.

Anyway! Anna ends up at a hotel bar, ordering a burger and a beer, eating her sorrows away. She meets Matteo (Lorenzo de Moor), a nice Italian in town on business. They connect, and he tells her about the (empty!) villa in Tuscany and large extended family he’s left behind. Anna admits she always dreamed of going to Italy to be a chef, but had to drop out of culinary school to care for her sick mother. Still, she kept the plane ticket she once bought. (Don’t ask why she didn’t get a refund. This is a rom-com.)

Anna and Matteo end up spending a chaste night together, and he leaves a note the next morning telling her to chase her dreams. Notably, Matteo does NOT invite Anna to stay in his house. This is important.

Because, when Anna does fly to Italy and can’t find a hotel because there’s a festival going on, she goes to Matteo’s villa, finds a key in the flower pot, and moves in. And makes more cappuccino.

When Matteo’s mother and grandmother arrive, the latter a sprightly gray-haired lady wielding a broom as a weapon, it’s assumed Anna is a criminal. Police are called. But then they see Anna's diamond engagement ring — she'd found it in the villa's junk drawer — and everyone assumes she's Matteo’s fiancee. Anna goes along with the lie.

Meanwhile, Anna has met dishy Michael (Page), Matteo’s British-born adopted brother and also his cousin, and is improbably single. What’s even more improbable is that he is “unlucky in love,” as he tells Anna. OK, right.

The two have chemistry. But there’s the whole Matteo wedding thing, remember? The women in the family are busy planning it. And then ... Matteo himself shows up. He's wondering why Anna is posing as his fiancee. Hijinks ensue, as they say.

Will Anna and Matteo actually get married, though THEY have zero chemistry? Or will Anna find the true love she deserves, both with a man and, fulfilling her cooking talents, behind a stove?

A big hint comes when she’s hungry one evening and there is only, magically, a loaf of bread in the kitchen and some of the best-looking tomatoes in Europe.

A few drips of olive oil, some salt and pepper, maybe a touch of garlic — Anna produces a mean bruschetta. Magically, too, Michael drops by for a few bites. And for once, we're transported by this movie’s dreams of Tuscan romance. All it takes is some really good bread and tomatoes.

A real suitcase might also be nice.

“You, Me & Tuscany,” a Universal Studios release, has been rated PG-13 “for some strong language, and sexual material.” Running time: 104 minutes. Two stars out of four.

Hilton, whose legal name is Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr., first publicly signaled a serious health problem in late March when he shared photos and video from a hospital bed in Las Vegas. Images posted to Instagram and Facebook showed him in a gown with hospital bracelets, monitoring equipment, abdominal scars, and tubes, as well as an oxygen mask, prompting concern and messages of support from followers and fellow entertainers.

In one widely shared post, Hilton captioned his photos with “March madness indeed! Have I got a story to tell,” signaling that the medical episode was both serious and still unfolding. He also publicly praised staff at Southern Hills Hospital and Medical Center in Las Vegas, calling them “angels” and naming individual nurses while thanking the wider care team for their work.

In a later video message described by outlets including E! News and Page Six, Hilton explained that the crisis began with what he believed was a routine case of the flu. He said he had the flu for about a week and made a series of decisions—including taking medication on an empty stomach—that he characterized as “stupidity” and linked to his eventual hospitalization.

Hilton stated that failing to eat while taking flu medicine led to an ulcer that then became infected, ultimately progressing to sepsis, a potentially life‑threatening response to infection. He told viewers that the situation became dire enough that he spent 21 days hospitalized, an experience he described as both the “worst and best” thing that had ever happened to him and “the most important video” he had ever made.

According to timelines compiled by entertainment and news outlets, Hilton’s long hospital stay in March centered on treating sepsis and its complications, with photos showing feeding tubes, oxygen support, and visible surgical scars. He was eventually discharged, returning home to Las Vegas after those three weeks, but indicated to followers that his recovery would be slow.

Just days after leaving the hospital, Hilton says he began experiencing new and severe pain in one of his legs, which escalated rapidly. In a video message recorded from Southern Hills Hospital and circulated by outlets including E! News and Chosun Biz, the blogger said that by the following morning the pain was so intense he “could barely walk” and needed a walker to move.

Doctors then discovered a deep vein thrombosis , a serious blood clot, in his right leg. Hilton described the clot as “massive” and “fully occluded,” explaining that it stretched from his groin to just below his calf, a detail cited in multiple write‑ups of his update.

Surgeons performed an emergency thrombectomy to remove the clot, with Hilton sharing on social media that the procedure took place only a short time after he was readmitted for the leg pain. Deep vein thrombosis and other clotting issues are recognized complications that can arise in people recovering from extended hospital stays or significant infections, though Hilton has not publicly detailed all of his risk factors.

Hilton’s latest round of posts has focused on his struggle to walk again after the blood clot surgery, describing a level of pain he called “the most excruciating” of his life. He says that only hours after his thrombectomy, his cardiovascular surgeon visited his room and instructed him to get up and walk, a standard recommendation to help prevent further clotting and other complications after such procedures.

“So I walked, and it was the most excruciating pain of my life,” Hilton is quoted as saying in coverage that reproduces his Instagram remarks. Video clips show him moving slowly with the help of a walker, and outlets report that he described these first steps as deeply painful but necessary.

Hilton has said he was discharged the day after his thrombectomy but remained in significant pain, to the point that he canceled Easter Sunday plans that he had been looking forward to. In his posts, he frames these cancellations not as a setback but as a necessary step in protecting his recovery and honoring the limits of what his body can tolerate at this stage.

In what appears to be his most recent health update, dated April 7, Hilton writes that he is finally able to walk again—slowly—and that the pain, while still “very pronounced,” has become tolerable without medication. “Thank GOD that I can finally walk again—slowly,” he wrote, thanking his care team and expressing gratitude that he can move without relying on painkillers.

Coverage of his comments notes that he is still using a walker and that his activities remain sharply limited as he continues rehabilitation. Hilton has also spoken about the emotional dimensions of his recovery, although detailed comments about any counseling, mental health care, or specific support networks beyond family and friends have not been extensively reported.

Hilton, long known for his sharp style as an online gossip writer, has used the health crisis to publicly reflect on his past behavior and his current priorities. In recent posts, he has referred to a personal transformation and apologized for what he called “selfish” behavior in earlier years of tabloid blogging.

Reports note that Hilton is framing his health emergency as a turning point, telling followers he hopes others will learn from his missteps regarding self‑care and medical attention. He has emphasized that seeking timely care and following medical guidance are crucial, particularly when symptoms escalate or persist, while stopping short of offering medical advice beyond his personal story.

Hilton’s platform has historically included commentary on LGBTQ+ celebrities and issues, and his recent statements have focused more on gratitude, accountability, and personal growth than on celebrity gossip. While coverage has not detailed specific outreach to LGBTQ+ communities during this health episode, his public reflections may resonate with many people who have experienced serious illness or are working to shift their public or personal narratives after a crisis.

Medical experts quoted in similar cases often note that recovery from sepsis, major surgery, and deep vein thrombosis can stretch over weeks or months, with physical therapy and lifestyle adjustments playing key roles, though Hilton’s care team has not been quoted in detail about his long‑term plan. Current reporting instead relies on Hilton’s own descriptions of his pain levels, mobility, and ability to go without pain medication as indicators of progress.

As of his latest updates, Hilton says he is focused on walking, managing his pain, and rebuilding strength after the dual ordeal of sepsis and a near‑fatal blood clot. He has not announced a timeline for a full return to his usual media work, instead centering his public comments on gratitude for surviving the emergency and on the incremental milestone of being able to walk again, even if only slowly and with assistance.

Tierney described the fandom’s extremes as “a lot to think about moving forward,” acknowledging both the positive enthusiasm and the toxic behavior that has surfaced online around the show’s stars. He underlined that Hudson Williams’ presence as a non-white lead in a mainstream queer romance sends a significant message, arguing that storytellers “don’t need to be making an Asian show to have an Asian lead” and praising Williams as “a f****** star.”

Heated Rivalry is a Canadian sports romance television series created, written and directed by Tierney for Crave, adapted from Rachel Reid’s Game Changers novels and centered on the evolving relationship between two rival hockey players. Williams portrays Shane Hollander, an Asian-Canadian hockey captain whose on-ice rivalry with Russian player Ilya Rozanov turns into a secret love story spanning several years.

Off screen, Canadian actor Hudson Williams is described as having a Korean mother, and the show mirrors that heritage by making Shane Hollander canonically of Asian descent, with a Japanese mother in the series’ narrative. Tierney and cast members have pointed to that representation as part of what makes the series resonate with audiences seeking stories that place queer people and people of color at the emotional center of a mainstream sports drama.

As the show’s profile has grown internationally, Williams has been subjected to racist harassment, including anti-Asian slurs and hateful comments that target his heritage and his character’s background. Reports collated by entertainment and news outlets say he has also received death threats from a subset of viewers, prompting mounting concern from supporters and fellow cast members about his safety and wellbeing.

The hostility has not been limited to Williams: Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova, who is Russian-Trinidadian and plays Svetlana, a close friend and sometimes hookup of Ilya, has also faced racist commentary and criticism for portraying a character who was described as white European in the original books. François Arnaud, the show’s openly bisexual cast member, has encountered biphobic backlash despite playing a role in a series that directly explores the pressures and homophobia that can keep queer athletes in the closet.

On March 9, Williams posted a written statement to social media calling out what he described as “bigoted” behavior within the fandom and rejecting any suggestion that such conduct could coexist with genuine support for the show. The statement, shared across Instagram Stories and feeds by Williams and co-star François Arnaud, warned: “Don’t call yourself a fan if you share racist/homophobic/biphobic/misogynist/ageist/ableist/parasocial/bigoted comments of any kind,” adding, “None of us need your hateful ‘love’… we all respect and support and love each other and are on the same side.”

Coverage of the coordinated response notes that the message was reposted by cast member Robbie GK, author Rachel Reid, and Tierney himself, signaling a unified front between the creative team and the performers. Actor Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova also echoed the statement on her social channels, reportedly adding that viewers should not turn “a show that’s about love” into a site of online hate.

Media analyses and aggregated reports describe the negative behavior toward Williams and his colleagues as part of a broader pattern of toxic fandom, where intense emotional investment slides into entitlement, bigotry and harassment against performers. Some coverage notes that a portion of the Heated Rivalry audience has developed parasocial expectations about Williams’ personal life, including criticism rooted in his real-world relationships and speculative claims about how those relationships align with his portrayal of a queer character.

Tierney has acknowledged that the team had “learned a lot” from the unexpected intensity of the fandom, suggesting that future seasons will need to balance engagement with clear boundaries around how cast members are treated. In one interview about the show’s impact, he said the more “noise” that surrounds the series, the more he wants to “drown that out” creatively, focusing instead on telling a love story that can contribute something positive without becoming a “massive change agent.”

Tierney and Reid’s adaptation has been widely described as a story that foregrounds queer joy alongside the realities of homophobia in professional sports, with the first season tracing Shane and Ilya’s journey through secrecy, career pressures and eventual openness. Tierney has credited Reid’s novels with presenting a hockey world that does not erase homophobia but instead shows that coming out requires courage, sacrifice and “saying things with your full chest,” which he framed as a narrative “triumph.”

Within that context, Tierney’s pointed defense of Williams and his co-stars aligns with the show’s themes, emphasizing that a queer sports romance cannot be separated from conversations about racism and biphobia when its leads are people of color and queer people. He has argued that keeping a non-white lead at the center of a global hit offers a concrete example of inclusive casting that does not require a story to be defined solely by a character’s race or ethnicity.

Despite the backlash, the Heated Rivalry team is moving ahead with a second season that is expected to draw from The Long Game, the sixth book in Reid’s Game Changers series, though Tierney has indicated that the entire novel may not be contained within a single season. He has suggested that Shane and Ilya’s storyline will “end happily” but will feature many emotional “ups and downs” along the way, mirroring the challenges queer athletes can face when navigating public scrutiny and internal team culture.

Tierney’s recent comments, combined with the cast’s collective statement, indicate that the creative team plans to continue foregrounding respectful, affirming portrayals of queer relationships and diverse characters while condemning racist and bigoted fan behavior surrounding the show. For many viewers and advocates, how the team navigates the intersection of global popularity, fandom culture and the safety and dignity of its cast will remain a key test as Heated Rivalry’s next chapter approaches.

Returning to the stage after a nearly four-year hiatus, RM, Jin, Suga, j-hope, Jimin, V and Jung Kook will perform a set drawing from both their catalog and new fifth album, “ARIRANG," their first since band members completed South Korea's mandatory military service.

Despite pouring rain, Thursday’s crowd packed a stadium with a capacity for over 40,000 for the show, which marks the group’s first headline tour performance since their 2021–22 Permission to Dance on Stage tour.

The shows in South Korea, running through April 12, launch a global tour spanning dozens of shows across the United States, Europe and Asia, which analysts say could generate hundreds of million s of dollars in revenue per quarter.

The concert comes less than a month after BTS marked their comeback with a free concert at Seoul’s Gwanghwamun Square.

All seven members of BTS completed their mandatory military service, with Suga being the last to be discharged in June 2025. He reportedly served at government-related facilities and organizations instead of military camps due to a shoulder injury.

In South Korea, all able-bodied men between 18 and 28 years old are required by law to perform up to 21 months of military service under a conscription system meant to deter aggression from rival North Korea.

“ARIRANG” — named after a centuries-old Korean folk song regarded as an unofficial anthem across the Korean peninsula — debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The single “Swim” also made it to the top of the charts.

BTS — short for Bangtan Sonyeondan, or “Bulletproof Boy Scouts” in Korean — debuted in June 2013. The seven-member group launched in 2013 with the hip-hop heavy single album “2 Cool 4 Skool,” releasing three full-length projects before really gaining momentum with their 2016 album “Wings.”

Their global breakthrough came in 2017 when “DNA” entered the Billboard Hot 100, making BTS the first Korean boy band to achieve such a feat. The song’s success was followed by a performance at the American Music Awards, further fueling their international fan base called “Army.”

The band's world tour heads to Tokyo next, before moving through North America, Europe, South America and Asia. BTS is set to play Australian in early 2027, with a final stop in Manila next March.​

The offspring, whom McKellen’s Julian Sklar vividly describes as wrecks — one a train wreck, one a shipwreck — feel they deserve an inheritance they’re smart enough to know they won’t receive through any will — or talent of their own. The specialist and sometimes forger Lori (Coel) has other motives. There’s the promise of paying rent, yes, but there’s also an element of revenge. Lori and Julian have a kind of history that the movie will reveal in time. She’s also been publicly critical of his later works.

But “The Christophers” is not an “Ocean's” movie or a “Logan Lucky,” which is to say it’s not really a heist. There’s the tease of one, right up until the end, and the promise of the con. This latest film by the great and astonishingly prolific Steven Soderbergh is not out to give the audience what they think they want from him. Instead, it’s a meditation on art, legacy, creativity and the oh-so-touchy subject of who has the right to critique. It might sound a bit dreary, but Ed Solomon’s razor-sharp script and the brilliant pairing of McKellen and Coel make this lean two-hander breeze by.

You can read however much you want into how much Soderbergh (or Solomon) may or may not relate to Julian, who is determined to burn, bury and shred the unfinished “Christophers,” a series of paintings of a former boyfriend that became his most famous. It’s a fun and prickly exercise for any creative person to reconcile with the peaks and lulls of a long career in the arts — and Julian is luckier than most. He actually got famous and relatively wealthy from his paintings.

Julian huffs that “to judge art one must possess the skills to make said art.” It’s the kind of statement that, if given in an interview, might launch a thousand think pieces. Julian is both old and a devout rebel, with a lifetime’s worth of wisdom, wit and burned bridges in his arsenal. It’s a potent combination ripe for internet virality, but at the moment his online presence is mostly relegated to something akin to Cameo messages for 149 pounds a pop (249 if he mimes a signature).

When Lori arrives, he suddenly has an audience for his theatrical, nonstop musings: fun for McKellen, his character and the audience, but not so much for Lori, who absorbs the monologuing with steely indifference until she decides to take more control of the situation. There’s a bit of the generational disconnect that happens, but it’s somehow never cliche or predictable. The story zigs and zags with its characters as they work through the situation at hand and the larger issues both seem to be plagued by. The script throws a lot of ideas out there and, refreshingly, none of them is to be taken as dogma, especially not Julian’s comment about who has the right to judge art. Like many things he says, it’s probably just the most withering thing he could think of at the moment.

It is a funny thing, though, to critique a movie that does have so much to say about criticism, about what the person behind the keyboard might actually have the guts to say out loud to the person courageous enough to make something and put it out in the world. Perhaps it’s not actually that hard when the movie is as solid as “The Christophers,” or when the filmmaker in question is on a roll like Soderbergh with both “Presence” and “Black Bag.” His movies may have gotten smaller, but the verve remains.

“The Christophers,” a Neon release in New York and LA on Friday and nationwide on April 17, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for “language.” Running time: 100 minutes. Three stars out of four.

“Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County” premiered on MTV in 2004, following a group of affluent high school students in the coastal California city as they navigated friendship, romance, and the transition to adulthood. The show helped establish a cinematic, serialized style of reality storytelling and served as a launchpad for multiple cast members, including Cavallari, Conrad, and Stephen Colletti, who all went on to build careers in television, fashion, and media.

At the center of the original series was a love triangle between Cavallari, Conrad, and Colletti, with producers and editors often framing Conrad as the “good girl” narrator and Cavallari as a more rebellious foil. The storyline frequently portrayed the young women as rivals competing for Colletti’s attention, a narrative that both Cavallari and Conrad now say was more exaggerated on screen than it was in their real lives as teenagers.

In the recent “Extra” interview tied to “The Reunion: Laguna Beach,” Cavallari described rewatching the original series as a “rollercoaster” but emphasized that she and her former castmates can now laugh at the drama that once defined them. She specifically noted that her storyline with Conrad worked out “exactly how it was supposed to,” adding that the tension between them was “sort of the allure” and questioning whether the show would have succeeded if they had simply gotten along on camera.

Cavallari suggested that if she and Conrad had been placed together as friends rather than rivals, viewers might have seen a less dramatic version of their lives, and she mused that the series could have been less compelling as a result. Her comments echo a long‑running conversation among reality TV alumni about how conflict is often foregrounded in editing, even when the people involved have more nuanced or evolving relationships away from the cameras.

In earlier reflections on the series, Cavallari has said she and Conrad were “never friends” during high school and that their interaction was limited even before MTV started filming, a point that underscores how the show amplified specific moments into an overarching feud. She has also shared on her own podcast “Let’s Be Honest with Kristin Cavallari” that revisiting the show and reconnecting with past castmates has been unexpectedly healing, particularly as she works through how her teenage self was framed on national television.

The renewed discussion around Cavallari’s comments comes as The Roku Channel prepares to debut “The Reunion: Laguna Beach” on April 10, a special that brings together key alumni including Cavallari, Conrad, Colletti, and other original cast members. The reunion marks roughly 20 years since the show first premiered, and it arrives at a time when early‑2000s reality series are finding renewed interest among viewers through streaming platforms and nostalgia‑driven retrospectives.

Conrad has described the reunion as an opportunity to reconnect with her former castmates on more equal footing as adults and to revisit the way their stories were told in the early days of unscripted television. She told “Entertainment Tonight” that she felt “now is the best time” to revisit the series, noting that she has enough distance from the show and its fallout to look back without wanting to return to reality TV in a full‑time capacity.

In a separate interview with “Extra,” Conrad highlighted a new one‑on‑one conversation with Cavallari filmed for the reunion, set around a bonfire, which she called an important first despite the two women having become friendly off camera in recent years. As a producer on the reunion, Conrad said she felt it was important to include the scene because viewers had never actually seen the two of them sit down one‑on‑one on the original series, even though their supposed feud dominated the narrative.

Off screen, the relationship between Cavallari and Conrad has shifted significantly since their high school years and the early “Laguna Beach” and “The Hills” era. In interviews and on her “Let’s Be Honest” podcast, Cavallari has said that participating in the reunion helped close a long chapter and that she and Conrad have now put any lingering tensions to rest.

Cavallari publicly shared in 2025 that she and Conrad are “friends” after filming the reunion, a statement echoed in reporting that emphasized how the former rivals had finally ended their long‑standing feud. She described the process of filming as “healing,” saying it helped her reconcile her image as the show’s onscreen antagonist with how she sees herself now as a parent, entrepreneur, and media personality.

Conrad, who has built a career in fashion, writing, and lifestyle media since leaving reality television, recently told People on the reunion’s red carpet that she and Cavallari “have so much in common” and have maintained their friendship after filming. She added that they have been “having so much fun just texting and talking and laughing together,” suggesting that the two former co‑stars now relate to one another more as adults navigating similar industries than as teenagers at the center of a love triangle.

The pair also spoke with The News International about how producers and editing once fueled their on‑screen fights, particularly around their shared history with Colletti. They emphasized that their relationship today is far removed from the chaotic dynamic audiences saw in the mid‑2000s, with both looking back on those years through a lens of distance and maturity.

Cavallari’s latest comments about needing the rivalry for “Laguna Beach” to work arrive amid growing public interest in how early reality shows constructed character archetypes, especially for young women and LGBTQ+ people whose real lives were often more complex than what aired. While “Laguna Beach” focused on a predominantly straight, cisgender group of students, critics and fans have since noted that the show contributed to a broader template of reality storytelling that sometimes sidelined or stereotyped queer and gender‑diverse classmates who were not part of the main cast.

The new reunion special and accompanying interviews do not center LGBTQ+ storylines, but they do engage with questions of how editing and production shaped public perceptions of the cast’s identities, relationships, and conflicts. For many viewers who grew up with the show, seeing Cavallari and Conrad reflect on the pressures they faced as teenage girls filmed for national TV offers a window into how mid‑2000s reality series framed femininity, popularity, and romantic competition.

Cavallari’s acknowledgment that the series “worked” because of a rivalry also underlines how central conflict remains to many reality formats, even as newer productions aim to be more inclusive of diverse identities and experiences. In revisiting their shared past, Cavallari and Conrad are simultaneously affirming the role that their teenage drama played in the show’s success and challenging audiences to see them as more than the labels of “angel” and “villain” that once defined them.

As “The Reunion: Laguna Beach” debuts, Cavallari’s reflections about needing the rivalry to make the show work add another layer to the ongoing reevaluation of early reality television and its impact on the people who starred in it. For fans and critics alike, the special offers a chance to watch former rivals share the screen not as adversaries, but as adults who have reclaimed ownership over their stories and publicly affirmed a friendship that once seemed impossible.