That thing where you forge bank statements to trick a princess into giving you a Royal Family-breaking interview

by Therese Odell, posted in Uncategorized

It’s Thursday.

All Other TV News

Martin Bashir, the BBC reporter who landed that famous interview with Princess Diana, resigned “for health reasons” five days ago, so it’s not entirely surprising that the BBC has announced that an independent investigation into how he landed that interview suggests it was not on the up-and-up. According to the inquiry, Bashir forged some bank statements that seemed to show that a tabloid and some off-shore company were paying an employee of Princess Diana’s brother, Charles, for dirt. This in turn induced Charles to introduce Bashir to Diana where Bashir was able to play on her growing paranoia to convince her to do the interview. What’s really galling about this is that the man who forged the bank documents for Bashir raised the alarm BACK IN 1996, and the BBC was like, “Nah. That’d never happen.” Anyway, the BBC and Bashir are both very sorry about the whole thing and the BBC will return the BAFTA award they won for the interview.

This is an excellent explainer of the legal issues The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills‘ Erika and Tom Girardi are going through, and y’all, it’s bad. It’s rilllll bad. Our girl should probably quit the show, and try to go back in time and erase all of her participation in it.

The Bachelorette Australia is casting an openly bisexual lead and will feature a cast of both men and women for her to date. On the one hand, this feels exploitative, on the other … maybe it’s a step towards more inclusiveness and a break from the heteronormativity of these series?

You’ll be able to subscribe to a cheaper, ad-supported HBO Max in the first week of June.

Prodigal Son was canceled by Fox, but is clearly holding out hope that they might be picked up someplace else.

People are real mad that Paul Rudd is not at the Friends reunion, but let me ask you this: did Paul Rudd want to be at the Friends reunion?

Larry Charles, one of the geniuses behind Seinfeld, is pretty sure Kramer would be both a QAnoner and a member of Antifa, just to cover his bases. And you know what? That checks out.

Lisa Rinna, you need to get your daughter away from that fame-hungry asshole. He is literally old enough to be her father.

Mouse Rat is releasing an album. No, for real.

Racial Justice

All Rise was one of the shows CBS canceled last week, and I’m not saying that it had something to do with this report in Salon about the hostile work environment created by the fired showrunner, Greg Spottiswood — after all, he had been out of the job for two months already — but it certainly didn’t help to learn that Spottiswood compared two of his Black writers to monkeys, or that he questioned his Black writers’ real lived experiences because they didn’t feel “real” to him, a white man.

NBC is saying that they believe the Golden Globes will be able to come back one day.

Caleb Kennedy, a finalist on American Idol, was cut from the show after a video in which he is sitting next to someone wearing a Ku Klux Klan hood emerged.

The iCarly cast and Paramount are having to condemn fans of the show who are harassing new cast member Laci Mosley for being a Black addition to the show. Y’all.

Rachel Lindsay has some things to say about the way The Bachelorette (and presumably The Bachelor) is cast and they’re not great.

Please stop casting white women as Asians.

Salma Hayek is saying that she was passed over as the lead in two different films because she is Mexican.

Disney is launching The Onyx Collective, a new curated content brand that will largely live on Hulu.

Nikole Hannah-Jones, who created the Pulitzer-Prize-Winning project and Conservative bugaboo, “The 1619 Project,” was denied a tenured position at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and offered a non-tenured position instead, despite having the support of the journalism department she will be joining (and despite the fact that the last two people to have this role were given tenure). Basically, this is the problem: “The Republican-controlled North Carolina Legislature appoints the university system’s Board of Governors, which has significant control over the university’s board of trustees.”

Three survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, Viola Ford Fletcher, Hughes Van Ellis, and Lessie Benningfield Randle, gave testimony to a House Judiciary subcommittee considering giving reparations for survivors and descendants of the massacre. (Which, you might remember, was a reality in the universe of Damon Lindelof’s Watchmen series.) “I have lived through the massacre every day,” Ms. Fletcher said. “Our country may forget this history, but I cannot.”

But the survivors are seeking more than awareness. They have accused the city of turning what remains of Greenwood, now just half a block, into a tourist destination, and using their stories to enrich others but not the victims themselves.

In 2005, the Supreme Court declined to hear a case brought by massacre survivors. They appealed the decision to two federal court judges, who said they had waited too long to file the lawsuit.

Lessie Benningfield Randle, 106, said while testifying remotely by video at Wednesday’s hearing that as a 6-year-old girl she didn’t think she would make it out of the attacks alive. Now her name is being used to fund-raise for others, and she waited too long for justice, she said.

“People in positions of power, many just like you, have told us to wait,” she said. “Others have told us it’s too late. It seems that justice in America is always so slow, or not possible for Black people. And we are made to feel crazy just for asking for things to be made right.”

Renewals

In Development

Casting News

Mark Your Calendars

  • The Mysterious Benedict Society will debut on Disney+ on July 25.
  • Miracle Workers: Oregon Trail will return on TBS on July 13.
  • Animal Kingdom returns on TNT on July 11.
  • Loki debuts on Disney+ on June 9.
  • Everybody’s Talking About Jamie will premiere on Amazon on September 17.
  • Backyard Bar Wars will debut on truTV on July 8.
  • Intelligence will return on Peacock on June 17.
  • Black Summer will return on Netflix on June 17.
  • The World’s Most Amazing Vacation Rentals will debut on Netflix on June 18.
  • The Fungies returns on HBO Max on June 3.
  • Kim’s Convenience returns on Netflix on June 2.

R.I.P.

Lee Evans, Olympic gold medalist who was part of the Black protests in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics

Kentaro Miura, Creator of Bezerk manga

WATCH THIS

Last Man Standing: Mike teaches Kristin about work/life balance in the one-hour series finale. 8:30 p.m., Fox

Gomorrah: Season four of the critically-acclaimed crime series arrives. HBO Max

Adventure Time: Distant Lands — Together Again: Finn and Jake reunite for the third hour-long movie. Premiere. HBO Max

Special: Second and final season. Netflix

Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K.: Megalomaniacal supervillain M.O.D.O.K. pursues his dream of world domination in this animated series voiced by Patton Oswalt. Premiere. Hulu

The Me You Can’t See: Oprah Winfrey and Prince Harry discuss mental health issues with high-profile guests in this new series. Premiere. Apple TV+

Solos: Morgan Freeman, Anne Hathaway, and Helen Mirren, Uzo Aduba, Nicole Beharie, Anthony Mackie, Dan Stevens, and Constance Wu star in this anthology series about how we are all connected through the human experience. Premiere. Amazon

Trying: Nikki and Jason begin the adoption process in the second season. Premiere. Apple TV

Let’s Be Real: Season finale. 8 p.m., Fox

1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything: This new docuseries explores how The Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin, Bob Marley, Marvin Gaye, The Who, Joni Mitchell, Lou Reed shaped the culture and politics of 1971. Premiere. Apple TV+

P!nk: All I Know So Far: A behind-the-scenes look at P!nk as she prepares for her 2019 Wembley Stadium concert. Premiere. Amazon

Late Night:

  • Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Dayglow
  • Late Night with Seth Meyers: Rob McElhenney, Ryan O’Connell, Brian Frasier-Moore
  • The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: John Krasinski, Yo-Yo Ma
  • The Late Late Show with James Corden: Sara Bareilles
  • Jimmy Kimmel Live: Ryan Seacrest, Yvonne Orji, Counting Crows
  • The Daily Show: The Daily Social Distancing Show
  • Conan: Bill Burr
  • Watch What Happens Live: P!nk
  • A Little Late with Lily Singh: Ryan O’Connell
THUR 7:00 7:30 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30
ABC Station 19
(new)		 Grey’s Anatomy
(new)		 Rebel
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CBS Young Sheldon
(repeat)		 United States of Al
(new)		 Mom
(repeat)		 B Positive
(repeat)		 Clarice
(repeat)
CW Walker
(new)		 Legacies
(new)		 News/Local
FOX Family Guy
(new)		 Let’s Be Real
(new)		 Last Man Standing
(new)		 News/Local
NBC Manifest
(new)		 Law & Order Special Victims Unit
(new)		 Law & Order: Organized Crime
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One thought on “That thing where you forge bank statements to trick a princess into giving you a Royal Family-breaking interview”

  1. “Anyway, the BBC and Bashir are both very sorry about the whole thing and the BBC will return the BAFTA award they won for the interview.”

    Oh, well, that makes everything all right then.

    Reply

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