Meghan Markle, 1. Piers Morgan’s fragile male ego, 0.

by Therese Odell, posted in Uncategorized

Hi! It’s Tuesday!

Meghan Markle and Oprah might not have taken down the palace (yet) but they have removed one racist institution. After storming off the set this morning when one of his Good Morning Britain co-stars, Alex Beresford, challenged him on his previous comments about Meghan Markle …

… ITV announced that blowhard Piers Morgan was leaving the morning program after almost six years.

So it’s unclear if he quit or was fired. That said, the network had announced earlier in the day that they were going to “hold talks” with Morgan after he said on-air that he didn’t believe Markle had suicidal thoughts. Because that’s his call to make. Christ, what an asshole.

By the way, the thing that seemed to trigger Morgan was when Beresford referenced a story Morgan himself told once on a late-night show in which he claims he had dinner with Markle the night she met Prince Harry, and never heard from her again:

The entitlement and the fragility of the White Man must never ever ever be underestimated. BYE, ASSHOLE.

The interview was watched by 11.3 folks in the U.K., which is a lot of folks, and, understandably the British press is losing their minds.

The Queen put out a brief, carefully crafted statement that neither denies nor confirms any of Meghan and Harry’s allegations:

While Prince Charles made sure he was photographed with a bunch of Black health care workers, all but confessing he was the one who made the comment about Archie’s skin tone, lol.

Disney hit 100 million subscribers years before they projected. Thanks, COVID-19!

As for Disney’s decision to let Gina Carano go, it wasn’t about politics, it was always about the bottom line and not offending the most people (kinda like I said):

Disney CEO Bob Chapek defended the Gina Carano firing on Tuesday, insisting the company doesn’t characterize itself as “left-leaning or right-leaning.”

He added during the investor call that the company stands for universal values and that, “we seek to have not only how we operate, but the content we make, reflect the rich diversity of the world we live in.”

As for Peacock: 2020 was not a great year. THANKS, COVID-19.

Bob Odenkirk is sorry for being a dick while he was a writer on Saturday Night Live.

WHOOPS.

Awards season plows on. The Producers Guild Association and the Directors Guild of America announced their nominees and everyone loves Ted Lasso.

#MeToo

Ana Liss and Karen Hinton, two more former aides of Governor Andrew Cuomo, have accused him of unwelcome touching and inappropriate comments. And male staffers have accused Cuomo of using degrading language with them, calling them “pussies” and suggesting that they “have no balls.” Yeah, that checks out.

Cuomo is refusing to resign, but New York Attorney General Letitia James is moving forward with her investigation into the accusations and has appointed two attorneys to look into them. Tick tock, guv.

Pepe Le Pew has been canceled, and not a moment too soon for that gropey molester who never understood consent. In an opinion piece about the Suesstraversy, New York Times columnist Charles Blow pointed out that we are steeped at a young age in unhealthy messages: “Some of the first cartoons I can remember included Pepé Le Pew, who normalized rape culture; Speedy Gonzales, whose friends helped popularize the corrosive stereotype of the drunk and lethargic Mexicans; and Mammy Two Shoes, a heavyset Black maid who spoke in a heavy accent.”

And people were SO MAD. But he’s not wrong, y’all:

And you know who else agreed with him? 2000’s Dave Chappelle:

Anyway, Pepe Le Pew has been cut from the upcoming Space Jam movie, despite having already filmed a scene in which LeBron James teaches him about consent (sorta).

And in a move that is certain to infuriate even more of the right wing, Lola the Rabbit has been desexified in the movie as well. “… we reworked a lot of things, not only her look, like making sure she had an appropriate length on her shorts and was feminine without being objectified, but gave her a real voice. For us, it was, let’s ground her athletic prowess, her leadership skills, and make her as full a character as the others.” GOOD. IS THAT SO HARD?

Dr. Ronny Jackson — now Congressman Dr. Ronny Jackson — the guy who used to be Former President Amphetamine’s White House doctor who claimed that Former President Morbidly Obese had “incredibly good genes” and could “live to 200” and who was nicknamed the “Candyman” because he handed out pills like they were M&Ms? That guy? Apparently, the Department of Defense did a review of his time as the White House doctor, and found that “he made ‘sexual and denigrating’ comments about a female underling, violated the government’s policy concerning drinking on a presidential trip, and took prescription-strength sleeping drugs that caused concern from his coworkers about his ability to do his job.”

One story had him drunkenly “pounding” on the hotel door of one of his female subordinates during a work trip, and when she opened, telling her “I need you,” and, “I need you to come to my room.” He also “commented about a female medical subordinate’s breasts and butt, saying she had ‘great tits’ and ‘what a nice ass,’ adding that he wanted to ‘see more of her tattoos.’” Gross.

Wasn’t it just like three weeks ago that we heard from Chris D’Elia claiming that he was never inappropriate with underage girls? Yeah, he was having sex with and soliciting nudes from a 17-year-old high school a few years ago according to a new lawsuit.

Britney Spears’ dad’s lawyer claims he’d love nothing more than for his daughter to not need a conservatorship that he is in charge of. OK.

Also … and I’m VERY uncomfortable admitting this … but I agree with that broken Minecraft character Matt Gaetz and sex abuse enabler Jim Jordan about something? I need to go lie down.

B. Scott has become BET’s first trans non-binary star and executive producer of a program. She They will be hosting Twenties the After Show.

Release your investigation into the Washington Football Team’s sexual abuse and harassment of employees, NFL.

Charisma Carpenter has written an essay explaining point-by-point how people can be good, productive allies in this #MeToo moment, and they are good, including:

Please don’t tell people to “rise above,” “just move on, it was a long time ago,” “get over it” and “forgive and forget” abusive experiences. This is dismissive and devoid of empathy. Justice for the abused is an integral part of the healing process. It’s hard for a traumatized person to move on when they watch the transgressors move up the ladder and gain power even as they repeat patterns of toxic behavior without answerability.

Believe others when they tell you they are hurt or traumatized by events that occurred in their life. It’s taken serious courage for them to identify their pain and be able to speak about it aloud.

Don’t play devil’s advocate for an abuser, make excuses for them or imply that victims have somehow misunderstood their trauma. If they are speaking about it publicly, they have likely done hard work in regards to their trauma and gotten help to process their experience clearly.

The whole piece is worth your time.

Hilarie Burton Morgan out here, calling for One Tree Hill to be remade through a female lens.

As long as there are men like this:

And this:

… we’ve got a long way to go.

Going Viral

We have lost over 525,000 Americans as of today, but the numbers continue to tick downwards. If we can continue vaccinating people quickly and beat the spread of the variants, we have a chance for a normal fall. Keep wearing your masks, Texas.

This Fox News contributor back in October thought it was impossible that we’d have 500,000 dead by this spring. So you should probably ignore his vaccine skepticism now since he’s clearly a fucking idiot.

One valuable lesson from the congressional fight to pass the COVID relief bill is that the fact that not a single Republican Senator voted for it might have finally killed the myth of bipartisanship for those few gullible Democrats who actually still believed in it. It’s a nice fairy tale — one that Mitch McConnell single-handedly strangled to death in 2006 when he became Senate Minority Leader and then stomped to dust when he because Majority Leader in 2015.

Here in Texas, our schools did not close this school year — even though teachers were not eligible for the vaccine until President Biden made it so last week. But in Los Angeles and New York City, schools are looking to reopen this spring.

Pray for Hollywood:

Hope you weren’t planning on attending the Tokyo Olympics in person like our very own Whitney.

Hey, remember that book Governor Cuomo wrote about what an awesome job he did handling the COVID crisis? Yeah, about that …

Michael Sheen and his baby daughter Lydia are recovering from COVID-19.

The Late Show is hosting a COVID anniversary episode on Friday, one year after the last in-studio episode. Dr. Fauci will be Stephen Colbert’s guest. Hopefully, we can see a studio audience by the fall.

Home & Family on Hallmark will resume production after a COVID-related production hiatus. It returns on TV on April 5.

Renewals

Cancellations

In Development

  • This Beast, a horror-drama from Kurt Sutter, is in the works at Netflix.
  • Would I Lie To You? and Killer Camp, two British reality competition series, are being adapted for the U.S. at The CW.
  • Kindred, the sci-fi novel by Octavia E. Butler, has been given a pilot order at FX.
  • Slam! a graphic novel about women’s roller derby, is being adapted into an animated series at HBO Max.
  • Women Of the Year, a TV adaptation of the Time 100 Women of the Year project, is being developed at Amazon.
  • A series about the beginnings of IMSA (International Motor Sports Association) is being developed at Amazon.
  • Fuel, an action film starring Jurnee Smollett, is about to be set at Amazon.
  • The Buck Schatz mystery series is being adapted for television.
  • Angela Robinson has signed an overall deal with Warner Bros. Television Group.

Casting News

Mark Your Calendars

  • Kung Fu will debut on The CW on April 7.
  • Manifest returns on NBC on April 1. Wait — are they suggesting that it’s all a big prank with this April Fool’s Day premiere? BECAUSE IT WOULD EXPLAIN A LOT.

  • Them will debut on Amazon on April 9.
  • Family Reunion is returning on Netflix on April 5.
  • Queen of the South returns on USA on April 7.
  • Top Gear returns to BBC America and AMC+ on April 25.
  • Cold Courage will premiere on AMC+ on March 11.
  • Night in Paradise will debut on Netflix on April 9.
  • Just Say Yes will premiere on Netflix on April 2.
  • Deliciousness returns on MTV on March 22.
  • LFG will premiere on HBO soon.

R.I.P.

Trevor Peacock, U.K. actor best know for his role in The Vicar Of Dibley

Mark Wilson, 60s TV magician known for Magic Land of Allakazam

Leon Gast, Oscar-winning director of When We Were Kings

Norton Juster, Author of The Phantom Tollbooth and other books

Frank Thorne, Comic book artist known for Red Sonja

WATCH THIS

Covid Diaries NYC: Five young filmmakers in New York City document the strain the virus took on them and their families during the spring outbreak last year. Premiere. 8 p.m., HBO

Delilah: In this new series, a single mother leaves a fancy white-shoe law firm to fight for the disadvantaged. Series premiere. 8 p.m., OWN

Juan of the Dead: If you’re a fan of Dawn of the Dead and Shaun of the Dead, I can not recommend enough this Cuban spoof that makes wonderful use of the zombie genre to level wry political commentary. 7:33 p.m., StarzEncore Espanol

Late Night:

  • Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Chrissy Teigen, Rory McIlroy, Pink Sweat$ featuring Kehlani
  • Late Night with Seth Meyers: Don Johnson, Christina Hendricks, Chloé Zhao, Josh Herndon
  • The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Riz Ahmed, Janelle Monáe
  • The Late Late Show with James Corden: Tracy Morgan, Kings of Leon
  • Jimmy Kimmel Live: Vanessa Kirby; Niko Moon
  • The Daily Show: The Daily Social Distancing Show
  • Conan: Ron Funches
  • Watch What Happens Live: D’Andra Simmons, Kary Brittingham
  • A Little Late with Lily Singh: Kathryn Hahn

TUES. 7:00 7:30 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30
ABC To Tell the Truth

(new)		 black-ish

(repeat)		 mixed-ish

(repeat)		 Soul of a Nation
(new)
CBS NCIS
(new)		 FBI
(new)		 FBI: Most Wanted
(new)
CW The Flash
(new)		 Superman and Lois
(new)		 Local
FOX The Resident
(new)		 Name That Tune
(repeat)		 News/Local
NBC The Voice
(repeat)		 The Voice
(new)		 New Amsterdam
(new)

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