Articles written by the author
Jane Fonda at 81, Proudly Protesting and Going to Jail
WASHINGTON — The night before Jane Fonda was arrested here again last week, a member of her social media team asked whether she would consider writing a letter from jail. “With what?” Fonda replied. “I’ll be without my phone.” She paused a beat, “Or adult diapers.” Also, Fonda continued, musing out loud, it was one thing for the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to write a letter from jail. But her? The plan was nixed.
Mister Rogers Meets a Skeptic
Matthew Rhys won an Emmy last year for playing an undercover KGB agent in Season 6 of “The Americans” but he still doesn’t know why.
Why the Oscars, Emmys and Tonys Are Not Ready for They and Them
Sam Smith, the British crooner with a voice often described as heaven sent, announced in September that “my pronouns are they/them.” Days later, the Brit Awards, which had nominated Smith for top male artist earlier in the year, said the categories would be reconsidered for 2021.
After Madea, Tyler Perry Builds a New Kingdom
ATLANTA — Tyler Perry hears voices in his head, and they have made him wildly popular, divisive and very rich.
Cynthia Erivo: We Need Harriet Tubman's Story of Strength Right Now
(Fall Preview)
When Rape Onscreen Is Directed by a Woman
“Whore!”
As America Debates Abortion, Hollywood Seeks the Realities
At a recent conference outside Los Angeles, a national women’s rights lawyer stood before a select group of Hollywood heavyweights to issue a demand and a plea. With a woman’s right to choose in jeopardy, the lawyer, Fatima Goss Graves, said, more abortions should be portrayed in narratives on screen. “The stories on abortion do not match our reality,” she said.In a World of Boy Grips, Four Women
A recent report hardly painted a rosy picture of the gender balance in Hollywood: Just 4% of the top 1,200 movies from the past 12 years had been directed by women. Deep in the report, another jarring figure leapt out at me. Looking at the most lucrative films from 2016 to 2018, researchers found that just four of the 276 key grips working on those films were women.
R. Kelly Accuser Gives Her Account Publicly for First Time
When R. Kelly was arrested on child pornography charges in 2002, Lanita Carter, his hairdresser, was one of his staunchest defenders.When 'Captain Marvel' Became a Target, the Rules Changed
One audience reviewer deemed the movie “a complete disaster.” Another was “tired of all this SJW nonsense,” using the abbreviation for “social justice warrior,” a pejorative term for progressives. Yet another groused that Brie Larson, the movie’s star, “says I shouldn’t see the movie anyway.”The One Big Awards Show That Didn't Lock Out Women Directors
(Reporter’s Notebook)
The One Big Awards Show That Didn't Lock Out Women Directors
(Reporter’s Notebook)Time's Up Chief Quit Over Sexual Misconduct Accusations Against Her Son
Lisa Borders, chief executive of Time’s Up, the Hollywood-led organization fighting workplace sexual harassment, abruptly resigned from her position earlier this week because of sexual misconduct allegations made against her 36-year-old son. The resignation was announced Monday, but at the time only a family issue was cited as the reason.
Time's Up Chief Quit Over Sexual Misconduct Accusations Against Her Son
Lisa Borders, chief executive of Time’s Up, the Hollywood-led organization fighting workplace sexual harassment, abruptly resigned from her position earlier this week because of sexual misconduct allegations made against her 36-year-old son. The resignation was announced Monday but at the time only a family issue was cited as the reason.The Uphill Battles of Black Talent Agents in Hollywood
Movies like “Black Panther” and “Crazy Rich Asians” don’t come around all that often partly because of how projects are put together. Chances are the people brokering those deals — and determining who gets in the door and what stories are told — are white.
A Weinstein Bankruptcy Casualty
As dozens of women stepped forward in fall 2017 with accusations that Harvey Weinstein had sexually assaulted them, writer and director Taylor Sheridan made several demands of Weinstein’s doomed company: No longer distribute his latest feature, “Wind River,” starring Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen, about a murdered indigenous woman on a reservation in Wyoming, and also strip all traces of the company’s name from the film. And donate future profits from the film to the National Indigenous W...
More Black People Directed Top Films, Study Says
A historically high number of top movies had black directors last year, according to a sweeping study, released Friday, that examined diversity behind the scenes and in studio boardrooms.Are Doors Opening for Nonwhite Films Abroad?
Tyler Perry is a household name in the United States, where his movies have made nearly a billion dollars. But in Britain, he is known mainly for playing the lawyer to Ben Affleck’s accused husband in “Gone Girl” — if he is known at all.Will 'Black Panther' Help Redfine 'Star' Overseas?
Tyler Perry is a household name in the United States, where his movies have made nearly a billion dollars. But in Britain, he is known mainly for playing the lawyer to Ben Affleck’s accused husband in “Gone Girl” — if he is known at all.Will 'Black Panther' Pave the Way for Nonwhite Stars Overseas?
Tyler Perry is a household name in the United States, where his movies have made nearly a billion dollars. But in Britain, he is known mainly for playing the lawyer to Ben Affleck’s accused husband in “Gone Girl” — if he is known at all.
