It seems like The Summer I Turned Pretty fever has gotten to Taylor Swift. The romantic drama series, adored worldwide for its emotional storytelling and love triangle, has captivated not only fans but also celebrities—including the global pop icon herself. Recently, Swift was asked to pick a side between Team Conrad and Team Jeremiah, sparking excitement among fans of the hit series.
Taylor Swift discloses if she is on Team Conrad or Team Jeremiah on The Summer I Turned Pretty
During her October 7 appearance on On Air with Ryan Seacrest, Taylor Swift gracefully avoided taking sides in the heated The Summer I Turned Pretty debate.
When asked whether she supports Team Conrad or Team Jeremiah, the singer humorously responded that she’s “Team Summer I Turned Pretty.”
Swift, however, beautifully backed her unexpected neutral stance. The singer explained how the show has utilised her music in the most thoughtful ways to highlight the significant moments in Belly’s life. Swift said, “I’m just, I’m here for whatever is next. I support your choices, girl.”
Showing her emotional attachment to the female lead, the singer expressed that she feels her music comes from Belly’s mind. Swift added that she will forever be Team Belly no matter who she ends up with.
Following Swift’s heartfelt comments, series creator Jenny Han reposted her clip on Instagram Stories. During her appearance on Jenna Bush Hager’s podcast, Open Book, Han highlighted the importance of Swift’s songs in the series, especially “The Way I Loved You”.
Han had written a handwritten note to Swift explaining that it would mean the world to her to be using her songs for the series. She believed it would be the greatest gift to her and the fans of The Summer I Turned Pretty. “She really — I felt like she is someone who bets on women. And I felt like she bet on me”, the author added.
Be it “Lover,” “Cruel Summer to this Love,” or “Cardigan,” Swift’s songs have beautifully elevated the emotional scenes of The Summer I Turned Pretty. The feature of “Dress” and “Out of the Woods” (Swift’s Version) in the series finale further cemented the connection of her music with Belly.
Roofman star Channing Tatum recently shared his thoughts on how streaming platforms have “confused” Hollywood and the moviemaking process. He also said that artists, “at times,” are now “incentivized” to make “bad things” rather than something good.
Channing Tatum says actors are ‘incentivized’ to make ‘bad things’
During his appearance on the First We Feast’s Hot Ones, Channing Tatum was asked about his statement in his Variety cover story, where he said that the streamers have “effed up the industry a bit — for good and for bad.”
The Roofman actor responded by saying, “I think, now, when you get asked to do a movie, or you’re trying to get a movie made, it’s a very confused pipeline of possibilities.”
He further added, “And it really feels like, at times, that you’re incentivized to make bad things to get paid, rather than make something really, really good, for the f—— people that actually get to see these things and people that I want to see these movies, the person that I was when I was a kid, I want good movies.”
The 21 Jump Street actor continued, “I’m like, ‘Man, I want to give my money to the good movies.’ It’s such an upside-down moment.”
However, despite his criticisms, the actor remained hopeful. “But I do believe that the disruption is going to lead to something good. I do believe the streamers came in for a reason, and it had to change. It had to morph,” the Step Up star shared.
Later in the episode, Tatum reflected on some of his past movies. Recalling his 2010 romance Dear John, the actor said that it was “such a generic” movie. He also spoke about his brief cameo in Deadpool & Wolverine, sharing that he doesn’t “feel” like he’s a “part of that” film.
Tatum is currently promoting his upcoming movie Roofman, which also features Kirsten Dunst, Ben Mendelsohn, and Peter Dinklage, among many others.
LONDON (AP) — British author Jilly Cooper, known for her many bestselling novels including “Rivals” and “Riders,” has died at age 88, her agent said Monday.
A statement from her family said that the author’s “unexpected death has come as a complete shock.”
“The privilege of my career has been working with a woman who has defined culture, writing and conversation since she was first published over fifty years ago,” her agent, Felicity Blunt, said in a statement.
“Jilly will undoubtedly be best remembered for her chart-topping series The Rutshire Chronicles and its havoc-making and handsome show-jumping hero Rupert Campbell-Black.”
Cooper’s many fans included former British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who said the books offered “escapism.”
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Charlie Hunnam recently opened up about his transformation for Monster: The Ed Gein Story, which premiered on Netflix on October 3. In the interview, the actor discussed his intense preparation for the role, the emotional challenges he faced, and his effort to find humanity in one of history’s most disturbing figures.
Charlie Hunnam explains what drew him to Monster: The Ed Gein Story
Charlie Hunnam explained in an interview with Forbes that portraying serial killer Ed Gein in Monster: The Ed Gein Story required complete physical and psychological immersion. He lost nearly 30 pounds in three weeks to match Gein’s frail frame and studied the killer’s rare audio recordings to replicate his high-pitched voice and tone. Hunnam said his goal was to “find the man behind the monster” rather than judge or sensationalize his crimes.
He described the challenge of maintaining empathy for a figure defined by horror, emphasizing his effort to portray Gein truthfully. “There was an enormous amount of trepidation and fear initially,” Hunnam said. “And then it was just trying to understand him, trying not to judge him, trying to find the truth and find the man behind the monster.” He remained in character throughout the filming process, choosing to stay focused on Gein’s mindset instead of breaking between scenes.
The Netflix series is the third installment in Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s Monster anthology, following stories about Jeffrey Dahmer and the Menendez brothers. Brennan wrote the eight-episode series, while Max Winkler directed several episodes. The cast includes Laurie Metcalf as Gein’s domineering mother, Augusta, Tom Hollander as Alfred Hitchcock, and Suzanna Son as Adeline Watkins, Gein’s only friend.
Hunnam, who also served as executive producer, said he and the creators frequently questioned what drove Gein’s actions. “We definitely didn’t want to sensationalize this or make a show that was gratuitous,” he explained. The actor ended filming by visiting Gein’s grave to bid farewell to the character.
Janelle Brown had a meeting of the “ex-wives club” with Meri Brown on the latest episode of Sister Wives where they took jabs at ex-husband Kody Brown and his “type.”
During the Sunday, October 5, episode of the TLC series, Janelle, 56, called Meri, 54, to discuss the selling of their Coyote Pass property, claiming Kody, 56, didn’t want to phone Meri himself.
“Why is he afraid to talk to me?” Meri asked over Zoom, calling it “chicken s***” that her former husband of more than 30 years couldn’t pick up the phone himself. (Meri and Kody announced their split in January 2023 after getting married in 1990.)
Kody later told the cameras, “Meri and Janelle, I completely upset them. Not on purpose, OK? Like I completely upset them because I didn’t know what to do.”
He confessed, “Meri, she’s kind of a nag, so I was like, ‘Oh, ignore her.’ Then she’s like, ‘Well, I’m going to do legal [proceedings then]’ and I’m like, ‘Well, well, well, OK, listen, we’re going to sell the property. You guys will all get your 25 percent. Why did everybody get so upset?’ Well, it’s because I wasn’t talking to them.”
Meri noted that Kody was being “so dumb” about the conversation, while Janelle claimed that he “always wants to act like he’s such a victim.” (Janelle confirmed her separation from Kody in December 2022 after nearly 30 years of marriage.)
“And he has this shy, pretty wife now and she’s really shy and she’s really pretty,” Janelle quipped, referring to Kody’s remaining wife, Robyn Brown. She told Meri, “Sorry, I couldn’t help it.”
Janelle Brown backed up sister wife Meri Brown after she realized their shared ex-husband, Kody Brown, allegedly never listened to them about their passions or travel dreams. During the Sunday, December 1, episode of Sister Wives, Meri, 53, met up with Kody, 55, and Robyn Brown to discuss finally paying off Coyote Pass, their vacant […]
Janelle explained her remarks during a confessional, claiming, “Those are words [Kody’s] used. ‘She’s very shy and she’s really pretty.’ I’m like, ‘Well, good for you.’”
Janelle, who welcomed six children with Kody during their marriage, reflected on her past with the polygamist, saying, “I mean, I was a little shy when we got married, but I was definitely not submissive. So I don’t know. I guess he misjudged.”
Meri got a laugh from Janelle’s comments about Robyn, asking, “The only wife? Or the only pretty wife? Like, is he slamming all of us?”
Kody Brown and Robyn Brown are seen on September 09, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.HIGHFIVE/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images
“Yeah, I think so. And that none of us were shy,” Janelle replied. “So, I guess that’s his type. Submissive, shy and pretty whatever.”
Janelle laughed, “Sorry, side note, I just had to have an ex-wives club for just a moment.”
As Meri and Janelle continued their chat about their shared Flagstaff, Arizona, property, Meri noted it’s “not fair” that Kody was putting Janelle “in the middle.”
“I thought this needs to all be a conversation with all four of us,” Meri said, referring to Kody and Robyn, 46, also joining the discussion.
Janelle claimed, “I invited him to be part of this conversation and he’s like, ‘No, I just no, like, I don’t really like you.’ And I said, ‘Well, it’s fine. I don’t really like you either.’”
She insisted she doesn’t “care” what Kody says or thinks about her after their split. Meri, meanwhile, said their openness is a breath of fresh air after years of rocky relationships in the Brown family.
“I’m glad they’re both mature enough to be able to just call a spade a spade and just say, ‘No, I don’t like you,’” Meri told the cameras. “I mean this is great, we’re making progress here.”
Janelle also teased that selling Coyote Pass would be “a nice parting gift” for her and Meri, since Christine Brown signed over her stake in the land when she divorced Kody in November 2021.
“I mean, if we’re not going to get alimony, I guess this parting gift works,” Meri said with a laugh.
The Sister Wives stars initially planned to build a quartet of homes in Flagstaff, Arizona, on land informally called Coyote Pass. Kody Brown and his then-wives moved their polygamist family from Utah to Arizona in 2018. Kody wed Meri Brown in 1990, several years before he “spiritually married” Janelle Brown in 1993 and Christine Brown […]
Janelle, meanwhile, said in her confessional, “If I had been legally married to Kody, you sure as hell [know] I would [have taken] half of his assets. I would have.”
Kody was spiritually married to Meri, Janelle and Christine, 53, at the time of their respective splits, meaning they don’t have any legal way to claim assets from the family holdings.
Thank You!
You have successfully subscribed.
Kody, who legally married Robyn in 2014 and adopted her three children from a prior marriage, did, however, put Meri and Janelle’s names on part of their shared Arizona land.
Multiple outlets reported in April that the family sold Coyote Pass for $1.5 million after purchasing the land in 2018.
Billy Ray Cyrus had an emotional reaction when daughter Miley Cyrus gifted him the song “Secrets” for his birthday.
“My dad cried,” Miley, 32, recalled during an interview with CBS Sunday Morning published on Sunday, October 5. “You know, you don’t see your dad cry a lot. But with me and my dad, we just have always communicated better through music with each other.”
When asked if the father-daughter duo are “at peace now with each other,” Miley replied, “Yeah.”
Miley revealed in June that the track, off her Something Beautiful album, was written with Billy Ray, 64, in mind.
“I wrote this song about my dad, because I wanted him to tell me, even though they were secrets, even though I didn’t really wanna know, I wanted to be the one he felt safe enough to tell me the things that were damning and damaging to the family,” she said on the “Reclaiming With Monica Lewinsky” podcast at the time.
Miley continued, “But I wanted him to think that, as a middle child, I’m old enough that I could take some of that you know. And I always wanted my family to feel like I was the safe place, that I always had the white flag when they came to talk to me.”
In August, Billy Ray gushed over Miley’s gesture while sharing a snippet of the song. “Secrets / I want to keep your secrets / Like sunlight in the shadows / Like footsteps in the grass,” Miley can be heard singing.
“For my birthday, Miley gave me the gift of music and wrote me a song called ‘Secrets’ and got my favorite musicians Fleetwood Mac to play on it!” Billy Ray wrote via Instagram at the time. “ I love you Miley ❤️.”
Miley and Billy Ray, who was married to Tish Cyrus until their 2022 divorce, have been open about their relationship ups and downs through the years. (Billy Ray and Tish, 58, also share Braison, 31, Noah, 25. Billy Ray adopted Tish’s children Brandi, 38, and Trace, 36, after their marriage. He’s also dad to Christopher, 33, whom he shares with ex Kristin Luckey.)
Thank You!
You have successfully subscribed.
“My dad and I have had our challenges over the years,” Miley wrote in a May Instagram statement. “Now, in my 30s, family is my priority above all else. I’m at peace knowing bridges have been built and time has done a lot of healing.”
“As I’ve gotten older, I’m respecting my parents as individuals instead of as parents — because my mom’s really loved my dad for her whole life, and I think being married to someone in the music industry and not being a part of it is obviously really hard,” she said during a May interview for The New York Times’ “The Interview” podcast. “I think I took on some of my mom’s hurt as my own because it hurt her more than it hurt me as an adult, and so I owned a lot of her pain.”
In an Instagram Story shared on Sunday, October 5, Donna, 72, reposted a tribute from Travis and brother Jason Kelce’s “New Heights” podcast that included various (and adorable) throwback photos of the sibling duo. “Happy birthday, Travis!!!” she wrote.
Donna set the upload to Swift’s “Opalite,” which Travis shared is his favorite track of the pop star’s 12th studio album,The Life of a Showgirl, released on Friday, October 3.
“I had a bad habit of missing lovers past / My brother used to call it, ‘Eating out of the trash,’” Swift, 35, sings, seemingly mentioning her brother, Austin. “It’s never gonna last / I thought my house was haunted, I used to live with ghosts / And all the perfect couples said, ‘When you know, you know,’ / And, ‘When you don’t, you don’t.’”
She adds, “You were dancing through the lightning strikes / Sleepless in the onyx night / But now the sky is opalite / Oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, oh, my Lord / Never met no one likе you before / You had to make your own sunshinе.”
Swift has since revealed that the tune, the third song on the album, is inspired by her fiancée. (The couple shared the news of their engagement in August.)
“He loves that one,” Swift said of Travis during a Friday interview on the U.K.’s Capital FM radio station. “I have favorite words, favorite phrases [and] things I’ll put in an endless file of lyrics that I’m constantly going to go and cherry-pick from when I’m writing.”
Swift went on to add “opalite” to that list, explaining that she learned “it’s actually a man-made opal.”
“Opal can be man-made just like diamonds, and so, Travis’ birthstone is an opal,” she shared. “I’ve always fixated on that, [and] I’ve always loved that stone. I thought it was kind of a cool metaphor that, like, it’s a man-made opal and happiness can also be man-made, too. That’s what the song is about, the juxtaposition of those two.”
“Opalite” is not the only Life of a Showgirl tune that details Swift’s romance with the Kansas City Chiefs tight end. Her songs “Wish List,” “Honey,” “Wood” and “The Fate of Ophelia” also depict their relationship, which began in summer 2023.
Thank You!
You have successfully subscribed.
“This song has some of my favorite moments in it, like, there’s a post-hook section that goes, ‘Keep it 100 on the land, the sea, the sky / pledge allegiance to your hands, your team, your vibes,’” Swift said of “The Fate of Ophelia” on the U.K.’s Magic radio station on Friday. “When we wrote that, I was like, ‘Yes! This is why I do music.’ This is a song about feeling for a long time that you might have met a similar fate to Ophelia, who was driven mad over the years, slowly, by love.”
She continued, “Instead, we reference her fate, but we talk about someone saving you from that fate and how euphoric that feels to look at … and feel like you’ve been rescued by this fortuitous turn of events where you end up finding a person that changed that for you.”
PARIS (AP) — Chemena Kamali said it with flower prints. A good old-style collection that set a few themes on the table and spent the rest of the Paris Fashion Week Sunday show refining them — proof that focus can still feel new.
Kamali, now in her third stint at Chloé, knows the house from the inside. German-born like Karl Lagerfeld, she worked here under both Phoebe Philo and Clare Waight Keller before returning as creative director last year.
Chloé was founded in 1952 by Gaby Aghion and is widely credited with inventing Parisian ready-to-wear — a freer, more feminine alternative to couture. Kamali’s vision taps that core: the romantic lightness and movement Aghion set in motion; Lagerfeld’s ’70s capes and lace; the 2000s “Chloé girl” ease; flashes of Stella McCartney’s wit. The project remains clothes by women, for women — “intuitive” dressing that evolves like life itself.
Prints, pastels and fabulous dropped hems
The prints weren’t just pretty; they set the tempo. Then the silhouette widened: a trapeze line in pearlized yellow, coats and skirts layered, knotted, and lightly gleaming — surface alive, structure calm. Color and the clean flash of leg kept the message Chloé: feminine without fuss.
One pastel look crystallized the mood — draped, ruched, pleated — its ’80s maxi-shoulders and dropped waist drawing a long, confident line.
The dropped hem returned in a gray coatdress with quiet authority. A tan coat-skirt, waist cinched, hovered between coat and dress and didn’t need to choose. Frills and belts threaded through like a house refrain.
The references were tuned rather than shouted: Lagerfeld’s ’70s fluidity, the 2000s “Chloé girl,” a measured dose of ’80s structure to ground the float. It read as memory put to work.
A caution remains. When shoulders harden and outerwear gains weight, Chloé’s natural freshness can dim. Here, that heft mostly served the line, though a couple of exits pressed the limit.
Still, the sum was clear and persuasive: romance with discipline, past speaking to present, ideas carried through instead of piled on. Chloé, steadying its rhythm — and selling the feeling as much as the clothes.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
MUNICH (AP) — The 190th Oktoberfest came to a close Sunday, wrapping up the world’s largest folk festival with the traditional Bavarian marksmen’s gun salute in Munich.
Schwarzenegger, dressed in a traditional Bavarian-style leather jacket, a buttoned-down shirt and jeans, was accompanied by his partner, Heather Milligan, and his son, Christopher.
The fairgrounds were closed for hours Wednesday as police searched the area due to a bomb threat linked to an explosion across town.
During the initial investigation, a letter written by the suspect and found near the crime scene contained a “non-specific” threat of explosives related to Oktoberfest, Bavaria police previously said.
Wednesday’s images showed police in fluorescent vests patrolling nearly barren pavements near roller coasters and other rides and attractions. Revelers returned to the fairgrounds Wednesday evening after it was deemed safe.
Decades ago, Oktoberfest was the target of a deadly neo-Nazi attack. A bombing on Sept. 26, 1980, claimed 12 lives, including three children, plus the attacker, student Gundolf Koehler, a supporter of a banned far-right group. More than 200 people were wounded.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
BEIRUT (AP) — Minutes after journalists gathered outside a Gaza hospital to survey the damage of an Israeli strike, Ibrahim Qannan pointed his camera up at the battered building as the others climbed its external stairs. Then Qannan watched in horror — while broadcasting live — as a second strike killed the friends and colleagues he knew so well.
“We live side by side with death,” Qannan, a correspondent for the Cairo-based Al-Ghad TV said in an interview.
“I still cannot believe that five of our colleagues were struck in front of me on camera and I try to hold up and look strong to carry the message. May no one feel such feelings. They are painful feelings.”
Like the vast majority of Gaza’s population, most of its journalists have seen their homes destroyed or damaged during the war and have been repeatedly displaced after evacuation orders by Israel’s military. Many have mourned the deaths of family members.
But journalists and advocates say the trials go well beyond. Every workday, they say, is shadowed by an awareness that covering the news in Gaza makes them singularly visible in the conflict, putting them at extraordinary risk.
For journalists in Gaza, “it’s about dying or living, escaping violence or not. It’s something we cannot compare (to other wartime journalism) at any level,” said Mohamed Salama, a former reporter in Egypt who is now an academic, researching the life of news workers in the Strip.
Israel calls strikes ‘a tragic mishap’ but also levels accusations
After the August strikes, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted that the military was not deliberately targeting journalists and called the killings a “tragic mishap.” After a preliminary review, the military said the attack had targeted what it believed to be a Hamas surveillance camera and that six of the people killed were militants, but offered no evidence.
Late last month, the AP and Reuters — which lost a cameraman and a freelancer in the attack on the hospital — demanded that Israel provide a full account of what happened and “take every step to protect those who continue to cover this conflict.” The news organizations issued their statement on the one-month anniversary of the strikes.
Israeli officials have previously accused some journalists in Gaza of being current or former militants. They include Anas al-Sharif, a well-known correspondent for Al Jazeera who was killed in an early August strike on a media tent outside another Gaza hospital. Four other journalists were also killed in the attack.
The Israeli military, citing documents it purportedly found in Gaza, as well as other intelligence, had long claimed that al-Sharif was a member of Hamas. He was killed after what press advocates said was an Israeli “smear campaign” stepped up when al-Sharif cried on air over starvation in the territory.
There is a long, sometimes tragic history of journalists risking personal safety to cover conflicts. But the risks, trials and toll of doing so have never been higher than they are in Gaza right now, experts say.
Since the war was ignited by the Hamas attack on Israel nearly two years ago, 195 Palestinian media workers have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
The toll recently prompted Brown University’s Costs of War project to label Gaza a “news graveyard.” Journalist deaths in Gaza have now surpassed the combined number killed during the U.S. Civil War, World Wars I and II, the Vietnam and Korean wars, the war in Yugoslavia that ended in 2001 and the Afghanistan War, the project said in a report issued earlier this year.
In a separate survey of Gaza news workers last year by Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism, nine in 10 said their homes had been destroyed in the war. About one in five said they had been injured and about the same number had lost family members. That was before Israel resumed fighting in March after a brief ceasefire.
One Gaza journalist, Nour Swirki, told the AP in an interview that since her home was destroyed early in the war she has been displaced seven times. Swirki and her husband, who is also a journalist, arranged for their son and daughter to exit Gaza in 2024 and stay with family in Egypt while the couple continued to work.
“I preferred their safety to my motherhood,” said Swirki, who works for the Saudi-based Asharq News and was a friend of Dagga’s.
“Death is there (in Gaza) every moment, every second and everywhere,” Swirki said. She is reminded of that reality whenever she skims through photos and videos stored on her phone and is met by the faces and voices of the many colleagues and friends who have been killed in the war.
“We get afraid and terrified and we work under the harshest conditions,” she said, “but we still stand up and work.”
Journalists are pressured by violence, hunger
Qannan, who saw his colleagues killed in the August strike, said Israel’s refusal to let foreign reporters enter Gaza puts tremendous pressure on local journalists, many of whom see their work as a duty to their fellow Palestinians.
He recounted working without a break since the war’s start, grabbing sleep between live broadcasts. His family has been displaced seven times. Now he and other journalists struggle to find food. In a recent social media post, he and fellow journalists gathered to cook a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of pasta that had cost them the equivalent of $60.
Yet when he goes on camera, Qannan said he makes an effort to appear strong in hopes of reassuring viewers. In fact, he and others journalists are exhausted and scared, he said.
Qannan says his fears have increased since he aired video of his colleagues being killed in the hospital attack, because it could draw the attention of the Israeli military. “The situation is terrifying more than the human brain can imagine,” he said. “The fear that we are living and fear of being targeted are worse than is being described.”
Another Gaza journalist, Mohammed Subeh, said the Israeli strike that killed the Al Jazeera reporter earlier in August left him with shrapnel lodged in his back and an injury to his foot. But hospitals are so overwhelmed with critical cases that he’s been unable to get treatment.
“A journalist in Gaza lives between covering the war on the ground, following the news and at the same time trying to take care of his safety and the safety of his family,” said Subeh, who reports for Al-Ekhbariya, a Saudi Arabian news channel.
Salama, who together with colleagues interviewed more than 20 Gaza journalists for their academic research, said that unlike foreign correspondents covering a war, Palestinian reporters have experienced decades of conflict firsthand. That experience makes them uniquely capable of telling Gaza’s story, he said — but they can never step away from it.
“You don’t have the luxury to break your soul away from what is happening on the ground,” said Salama, now a doctoral student at the University of Maryland.
Subeh, who works for the Saudi news channel, said he’d thought repeatedly of quitting and trying to flee. But, despite the extreme difficulties and dangers, he can’t bring himself to do it.
“I feel that my presence here is important and that the voice of Gaza should be sent to the world from its own residents,” he said. “Journalism is not only a job for me, but a mission.”
Mroue reported from Beirut and Geller from New York.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A judge remained undecided Friday on the treatment and placement plan for a man charged with stalking Jennifer Aniston and ramming his car into the front gate of her home.
Jimmy Wayne Carwyle, a 48-year-old from Mississippi, has pleaded not guilty to felony stalking and vandalism. But in May, Judge Maria Cavalluzzi found him not competent to stand trial after evaluations from two experts. At Friday’s hearing in a Los Angeles court dedicated to mental health cases, she heard arguments on Carwyle’s treatment and placement.
Aniston’s lawyer, Blair Berk, spoke on her behalf for the first time, detailing two years of Carwyle’s harassment and stalking, including various failed attempts to make physical contact with the actor.
Cavalluzzi said she leaned toward sending Carwyle to a mental health treatment alternative to imprisonment. She requested another hearing, scheduled for later this month, to hear from a mental health professional before making a final decision.
Prosecutors and Aniston’s attorney will have a chance to weigh in, Cavalluzzi said.
The judge acknowledged Aniston’s “very real” fear, but she said she can’t ignore the opinions of mental health professionals who have evaluated Carwyle and deemed him not a danger to society. The alternative treatment option offers community-based housing, treatment and support services as opposed to incarceration.
Harassment started 2 years ago, prosecutors say
Prosecutors alleged Carwyle had been harassing the “Friends” star with a flood of voicemail, email and social media messages for two years before driving his Chrysler PT Cruiser through the gate of her home in the wealthy Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles on May 5, “only feet away from where she was,” Berk said.
Carwyle had a stated and “persistent delusion” to impregnate Aniston with three children, Berk said, and “there is simply no way to prevent him from carrying out his delusion if he walks out.”
The prosecution expressed concern that if Carwyle were offered the treatment in Los Angeles, nothing would stop him “from traveling those few miles to Ms. Aniston,” Berk said.
Berk and William Donovan, the deputy district attorney, argued Carwyle was a present danger to Aniston and those around her. Berk said he attempted to enter her property twice, but was turned away.
Carwyle’s lawyer, Robert Krauss, said his client qualifies for alternative treatment, arguing that he hasn’t been convicted of violent crimes. Granting him alternative treatment, “is not like giving him a break or showing him leniency,” Krauss said. “Its just one thing and one thing only — and that is absolute, pure faithfulness of the law.”
Krauss also referenced a report from the probation department, which recommended Carwyle be granted probation and 90 days in jail if convicted, much less than the over three years maximum sentence for his two charges. Carwyle has been in jail since May and, if convicted, could be let out with time served.
Suspect says he won’t walk away from treatment
Carwyle was present at the hearing and addressed questions from Cavalluzzi, saying he “wasn’t right in the head,” when asked about the text messages he sent Aniston. He said he has been taking medication, which is keeping him focused, and admitted his wrongdoing.
When Cavalluzzi asked how she can be sure he won’t walk away from the treatment program — a stated concern from the prosecution — Carwyle responded, “You have my word.”
Berk said Carwyle “traveled thousands of miles over a year ago “after sending thousands of messages” that reflected “his delusions and intentions to not just make contact with Ms. Aniston, but to commit criminal wrongs against her, sexual violence against her.” She added that Carwyle stressed in his messaging that he “would be unabated by doctors or others or FBI intervening.”
Donovan argued that a state hospital is a “much safer, much more effective place for him to go,” and will offer the treatment Carwyle needs to address his delusions. The prosecution also argued there’s no evidence that Carwyle’s delusions toward Aniston have stopped, even with medication.
Carwyle has been under involuntary medication for the past few months. Krauss said that Carwyle’s actions toward Aniston were “just the product of psychosis from someone who is unmedicated.” The government must keep its “promise of treatment rather than punishment and of rehabilitation rather than incarceration,” he said.
The hearing was postponed several times in recent months as Carwyle at first objected to the incompetence finding and asked for an opinion, and both sides sought more time to examine the case.
Carwyle remains jailed, but he is under a judge’s order not to contact or get near Aniston.
Authorities said Aniston was home at the time of the gate crash, but he did not come into contact with her. A security guard stopped him in her driveway until police arrived. No one was injured.
Carwyle also faces an aggravating circumstance of the threat of great bodily harm.
Aniston became one of the biggest stars in television in her 10 years on NBC’s “Friends.” She won an Emmy Award for best lead actress in a comedy for the role, and she has been nominated for nine more. She currently stars in “The Morning Show” on Apple TV+.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Love Is Blind season 9 star Anna Yuan has responded to an onslaught of fan commentary about her body.
“Hi friends, reminder that I am human,” Anna, 28, wrote via her Instagram Stories on Thursday, October 2. “A human who has devoted her life into a craft to make other women feel beautiful.”
The hairstylist uploaded a handful of screenshots of social media users calling her “chubby” and falsely claiming that she wouldn’t find The One on the show simply because she’s not a “hot girl.”
“I have struggled with my weight since I was a little girl,” Anna said on Thursday. “For the first time in my life, I am proud of how healthy I am. I’m not a character.”
She continued, “I’m a real human being just like you. Be kind. Love you all anyway.”
In a follow-up post on her Instagram Stories, Anna implored social media users to stop “flooding” her DMs.
“It’s very insane seeing people come out of the woodworks to talk about me,” she wrote. “If you think you know me, you actually don’t.”
Anna is one of the contestants on season 9 of Love Is Blind, which is set in Denver, Colorado. Despite sparking early pod bonds with Patrick Suzuki and Blake Anderson, Anna withdrew from the experiment. Her exit sent shockwaves through the pods, especially for 30-year-old Patrick who was waiting to go on a date with her.
Courtesy of Anna Yuan/Instagram
“I started seeing myself being pretty vulnerable, and it scared me a little bit because this is an intimate part of my brain. These are very sensitive topics for me,” Anna told Tudum of her decision to leave the show. “It’s not that I’m just sharing it with whoever I’m dating or the other women — this is going to be broadcast for people.”
Anna, as the daughter of Chinese immigrants, was also worried about her parents’ reactions to the show premise.
“With my parents being immigrants and having a language barrier, I’ve always naturally been their helper,” she explained to the outlet. “When I told them, ‘Hey, Mom and Dad, I’m going on this show, they’re going to take my phone, they were like, ‘Are you being kidnapped?’”
Out of concern for her parents, Anna made her final decision to return home.
“I was a wreck,” she said. “My eyes were almost swollen shut from crying. I was embarrassed.”
While Anna claimed that she was given the choice to tell Patrick about her plans during their planned date, she opted against it because she didn’t want to be filmed anymore.
Thank You!
You have successfully subscribed.
“I don’t think I regret it because I don’t think the connections were strong enough to have a successful marriage from there,” she added to Tudum, noting she applied for the show without expectations of an engagement in the first place. “I went in there thinking that anything could happen. I’d be OK if I didn’t find somebody because it’s such a wild thing, and it’s so far off from how any of us have dated before.”
After Anna left, Blake focused on his connections with Megan Walerius and Kait Nemunaitis, respectively, before also leaving the show single. As for Patrick, he proposed to fellow contestant Kacie McIntosh, who ended their engagement after their face-to-face reveal.
Love Is Blind season 9 is currently streaming on Netflix. New episodes drop weekly.
George Clooney, who is soon set to appear in Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly, recently opened up about his carpool duties for his twin daughters in an interview. The veteran actor spoke out about his family life and duties while discussing his film. It seems that even the biggest of stars are not far from carpool duties when it comes to their children.
George Clooney accepts he has become a carpool dad for his twin children
George Clooney and his wife, Amal Clooney, a human rights lawyer, married in 2014 and had twins, Ella and Alexander. The veteran actor has kept his children away from the spotlight for the most part, but he has often talked about them publicly.
In a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight at the NYFF premiere of Jay Kelly, the actor spoke about his family. During the conversation, he was asked if he’s a carpool dad. Clooney responded positively to the question and said, “I am. I drive a van.” He added, “The other day I had six kids singing all the songs from Hamilton in the back. And by the way it’s a little off putting when you hear them singing some of the lyrics — for eight-year-olds.”
He also commented on how becoming a father changed his approach to work. The O Brother, Where Art Thou star elaborated, “I work less, but that’s okay, you know,…I’m really enjoying my life. I’m enjoying spending time [with my family], I enjoy driving the kids to school and all that stuff, it’s fun.”
This is not the first time Clooney has gushed about his family life and how much he enjoys it. Back in 2024, he spoke to GQ on a similar subject and said, “I’m going to give myself time with my kids. I really enjoy driving them to school, and my wife and I are having a really wonderful time. So I don’t want to lose all of that.” This was during the promotion of his movie, Wolfs, which also starred Brad Pitt.
Jay Kelly will arrive in limited theatres on November 14, 2025. It will get a Netflix release on December 5, 2025.
Hulu’s new series Chad Powers, starring Glen Powell, has already got a claim that viral sensation Haliey “Hawk Tuah” Welchreplaced another actress. After comedian Brittney Rae Carrera posted a viral video alleging she was the one originally cast in Welch’s scene, Welch has now publicly responded, clarifying the situation.
Haliey Welch on Brittney Rae Carrera claiming viral star replaced her on Chad Powers
Haliey Welch finally broke her silence after being inundated with tags and messages concerning Brittney Rae Carrera’s claims. Taking to her Instagram Stories, Welch shared that she was unaware the role had been offered to anyone else before she accepted it. “I wasn’t aware the role had been filled prior,” she stated.
The Hawk Tuah Girl emphasized that there was no malicious intent involved. As she further wrote, “I was called and asked to be in a TV series with Glen Powell and I said yes (bc duh it’s Glen Powell)” She even complimented Carrera, adding, “I actually love her content and think she is a funny and sweet girl.” Welch also confirmed that she has since been in direct contact with Carrera and the two are “cool.”
This began when Carrera, an actress and influencer with credits in shows like Found and Queens, posted a reaction video. In the now-viral clip, Carrera stands next to a television paused on Welch’s face from the Chad Powers premiere and screams, “They replace me with Hawk Tuah?! This is literally my scene!”
Since then, it has been confirmed that Carrera did indeed shoot for one day on the series but would not appear in the final episode. The situation ended peacefully, with Carrera posting her own conciliatory message later on Wednesday. “I am not upset with [Haliey Welch] at all,” she wrote, jokingly adding, “I hope one day she will teach me to spit on that thang.”
In Chad Powers, Welch appears as herself in a nightclub scene where Glen Powell’s character, trying to blend in with a younger crowd, excitedly name-drops her by her viral moniker, to which she politely corrects him, “Welch. Haliey Welch is my full human name.”
Tomlinson, 33, and Malik, 32, are set to chronicle a road trip across the United States, according to reports by The Hollywood Reporter and The Sun. The two musicians are expected to discuss their lives, careers and the 2024 death of former One Direction bandmate Liam Payne.
Neither Tomlinson nor Malik has publicly addressed the upcoming travel docuseries. Us has reached out for comment.
Tomlinson and Malik both rose to fame in 2010 after their respective X Factor UK auditions, which led to them being put in a band alongside Payne, Harry Styles and Niall Horan. Malik left the group in 2015 while Tomlinson and the remaining musicians continued performing together for another year before going on an indefinite hiatus.
Zayn Malik had a friend in attendance at his Wednesday, January 29, concert at Shrine Expo Hall in Los Angeles. Louis Tomlinson was in the crowd to show his support just three months after their One Direction bandmate Liam Payne died unexpectedly after falling from a balcony in Buenos Aires. “Tonight’s something special. An old […]
Afterward, Malik distanced himself from the rest of the 1D alums.
“Our relationships have definitely changed since we were in a band together, but I think that’s just life,” Malik told Billboard in a November 2017 profile. “Everybody grows up; two of the guys [Louis and Liam] have got kids now. But no, I don’t talk to any of them, really.”
Earlier that year, Malik, however, stressed to Us that everyone was “on a civil level.”
“It’s not the way it used to be. Obviously we were a lot closer because we were together the entire time, spending 24 hours a day in the band, and now we’re not, so we’re living our own lives,” he told Us. “We’re all growing as individual men, and we still keep in touch and check in with each other, not as much as we used to.”
Malik added, “To be honest, I never really spoke to Harry even when I was in the band. So I didn’t really expect that much of a relationship with him when I left. And I haven’t [had one] to be honest.”
One Direction performs on the December 20, 2014, episode of ‘Saturday Night Live.’Dana Edelson/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank
Malik reunited with Tomlinson, Styles, 31, and Horan, 32, at a funeral service for Payne in November 2024. (Payne died one month earlier at the age of 31 after suffering a fall from a hotel balcony in Argentina.)
“[Liam’s death] was a wake-up call for all of them. Prior, they kept in touch sporadically but didn’t have close friendships at all,” a source told Us in December 2024. “They’re all still mourning but are checking in on each other and feel closer than they have in years. It brought them back together.”
According to the insider, Tomlinson, Malik, Horan and Styles have also spoken about coming together for a “tribute” project in Payne’s honor.
“They’re all so devastated right now they can’t even think about that as a legitimate project, but it has been discussed,” the source added. “Liam’s death has caused the guys immense heartbreak.”
Thank You!
You have successfully subscribed.
The four 1D alums also released a joint statement following Payne’s death.
“We’re completely devastated by the news of Liam’s passing. In time, and when everyone is able to, there will be more to say,” they wrote in an Instagram statement. “But for now, we will take some time to grieve and process the loss of our brother, who we loved dearly. The memories we shared with him will be treasured forever. For now, our thoughts are with his family, his friends and the fans who loved him alongside us. We will miss him terribly. We love you Liam.”
Payne is survived by his parents, his sisters and his 8-year-old son, Bear, whom he shared with ex Cheryl Cole.
Durga Puja 2025: Kajol showers love on daughter Nysa Devgn, viral videos proves she is the perfect mom
Read further to watch the love and bond between Nysa Devgan and Kajol and why the two of them are Bollywood’s favorite mother-daughter duo.
On the final day of Durga Puja, Kajol was seen with her daughter, Nysa Devgan, celebrating the festivities and showcasing love, showering each other with blessings amidst the celebrations. The mother-daughter duo was seen styled beautifully, with Nysa in a beautiful orange suit that perfectly complemented her, while Kajol was seen in a red and white patterned saree. The duo was seen in the subhojanin pandal that has been hosting the Durga Puja traditionally. Kajol and Nysa both celebrated Durga Puja with a lot of love and family vibes, and cameras caught their bond.
Watch the video here
In the video , Kajol and Nysa were seen hugging each other as the camera caught the cute moment between the two . This wasn’t the first time they showcased their love and fondness for each other ; they have often been quite frequent about showing their nok- jhok online on Instagram and social media.
In another video, Kajol was seen with a puja thali in her hand while Nysa was seen roaming around the pandal . The festivities have been going for quite a while, and it’s been a fun time for the families. Several celebrities were spotted at the mandals, and paps have continuously captured celebrities seeking blessings.
What’s going on for Kajol professionally?
Currently, Kajol is seen alongside Twinkle in Too Much with Kajol and Twinkle. The show features several celebrity guests, including Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, Akshay, Varun, and Alia. The show is making headlines with its stars and content.
Don’t Miss Out on the Latest Updates. Subscribe to Our Newsletter Today!
Roughly two weeks after his April 2024 arrest, Wallen commented on social media: “I’m not proud of my behavior, and I accept responsibility” and said he “made amends” with Nashville law enforcement and others. Then in December, he pleaded guilty to two counts.
The Metro Nashville Police Department released the footage of Wallen’s arrest, captured by several officers’ body and cruiser cameras, in response to a public records request from the AP. A previously released arrest affidavit did not get into the details of what Wallen told officers.
A broken chair by Chief’s
A police car camera shows two officers, who were standing outside, react to something apparently falling from above on a late Sunday night. And one officer’s body camera video begins with a shot of a broken chair in the road near his parked police cruiser, close to Chief’s on Broadway, in the city’s entertainment district.
Then, as Wallen and his bodyguard team come down to the main entrance on Broadway, one of the men with Wallen is shouting, “He didn’t see anything. You don’t have witnesses, you are accusing!”
“He didn’t throw nothing, he didn’t throw nothing,” the bodyguard continues, and accuses two bar workers of “being aggressive.”
When an officer asks Wallen what happened, the musician replies, “I don’t know.”
He later tells another officer, “We’ve not tried to cause no problems, man. I don’t know what they are — I don’t know why.”
That officer said police were figuring out what happened after a chair came flying off the roof and landed by his patrol car. Wallen replied, “As you should.”
At one point, Wallen is on his cellphone, then points it at the officer and says, “Eric Church is on the phone.” Church, another country star, co-owns Chief’s. During the call, Wallen had used an expletive to describe the officers he said were “trying to take me to jail outside of your (expletive) bar.”
Church, who can’t be heard on the police recording, recommended to the officer that Wallen wait in a private space instead of standing on the public sidewalk, said a representative for Church.
The officer responds: “It’s not really something we can do. Law enforcement have to enforce the laws. Figure out what happened. We’ve got a supervisor coming to the scene. Gotta treat it like we would with anybody else.”
Representatives for Wallen did not respond to requests for comment.
Back in the bar, police were in an office watching security footage from the roof, body camera footage shows. The security video was not clear from the officers’ body cameras and a police spokesperson said there was no security camera footage from the bar in the case files.
The officers return outside and a sergeant, who says he watched security video of Wallen throwing a chair off the roof, handcuffs him.
Another officer talks to two witnesses. One, referring to the chair, says she saw Wallen “lift it up and throw it off” and laugh.
Throughout the hour-and-a-half ordeal, Wallen makes apologetic comments to officers without explicitly admitting to anything, including: “I truly didn’t mean no harm,” “Sorry to cause problems, I didn’t mean to,” and “God damn it, I am sorry man.”
“He didn’t admit to it, but we got him on camera doing it,” one sergeant says after Wallen was cuffed, also noting police had witness statements.
Some fans took notice as Wallen stood surrounded by police in Nashville’s busy tourist hub. One yells, “We love you Morgan!” Once Wallen is in the back of the police car, he says to the officer, “Get us out of here,” noting that people were videotaping him.
Born and raised in Sneedville, Tennessee, the two-time Grammy nominee is one of the biggest names in contemporary popular music, loved for his earworm hooks and distinctive combination of bro country, dirt-rock and certain hallmarks of hip-hop. 2023’s “One Thing at a Time” broke Garth Brooks’ record for longest running No. 1 country album, and this year’s “I’m The Problem” spent 12 weeks at No. 1.
Wallen’s career has been marked by several other controversies, including a 2020 arrest on public intoxication and disorderly conduct charges after being kicked out of Kid Rock’s bar in downtown Nashville. In 2021, after a video surfaced of him using a racial slur, he was disqualified or limited from several award shows and received no Grammy nominations for his massively popular “Dangerous: The Double Album.”
A Thomas Rhett sing-along
Wallen was talkative in the cruiser, the footage shows, saying, “I ain’t done nothing wrong,” and pressing the officer for his favorite country musicians.
“I can tell you my top three right now,” the officer replies. “You’re honestly one of them.” One of Wallen’s songs with Thomas Rhett comes on from the officer’s playlist.
“This is me and Thomas Rhett! Turn it up. That’s me and TR! That’s me right there,” Wallen says, before singing a couple of the words from the song.
“TR is one of the best dudes in the world. He would definitely not be getting arrested,” Wallen adds.
Wallen pleaded guilty in December 2024 to two misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment. He was sentenced to spend seven days in a DUI education center and be under supervised probation for two years.
When the judge asked how he would plead, he said, “Conditionally guilty.” His attorney has said the charges will be eligible for dismissal and expungement after he completes probation.
Wallen’s own Nashville honky tonk, not far from Chief’s, opened less than two months after his arrest.
Associated Press Music Writer Maria Sherman contributed to this story from New York.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The Strangers Chapter 3 now carries a set release window. Director Renny Harlin has revealed that the next installment will arrive in early 2026, following the recent debut of Chapter 2. The team filmed the trilogy back-to-back, beginning with the first entry in 2024. This modern retelling reimagines the original story and features Madelaine Petsch in the lead role.
You won’t have to wait a year for The Strangers Chapter 3’s release date
Speaking at San Diego Comic-Con, Harlin told The Direct that The Strangers Chapter 3 will come out in 2026. “I would say that early next year is what it’s looking like,” he said, when asked about the release timing. He explained, “No, it won’t be this year. We are finishing it up right now, so it’ll be done by the time Chapter 2 comes out. Chapter 3 will be completely finished, but there’s no time before Christmas and everything.”
The director also described what audiences should expect from the trilogy’s conclusion. Harlin said Chapter 3 “goes into a very, very dark place,” noting, “these movies will gradually get more physical and mentally more disturbing as we go.” He emphasized that the consecutive production gave him an “incredible opportunity… to explore our main character for four and a half hours and see her mental situation completely changed from being a vulnerable girl in the first movie… and then what she turns into by the end of movie three.”
Petsch, who plays Maya, previously indicated that the trilogy would lean further into paranoia as the narrative progressed. Harlin confirmed that approach, promising a raw and realistic portrayal of Maya’s transformation.
Post-production on Chapter 3 is nearly complete. The film will serve as the final entry in the new Strangers saga. The trilogy followed a year-by-year schedule: Chapter 1 in May 2024, Chapter 2 in September 2025, and Chapter 3 in early 2026.
Kirsten Dunst and husband Jesse Plemons may be household names courtesy of their extensive Hollywood careers, but that doesn’t mean their own children are huge fans of their varied movie roles.
“I mean, they’ve seen Jumanji and Spider-Man,” Dunst, 43, exclusively told Us Weekly while attending the Roofman premiere in Los Angeles on Monday, September 29. “Every time I’m like, ‘Do you want to watch Like Mike?’ they’re like, ‘No.’ So… Small Soldiers, my kids like, too.” (Plemons starred in 2002’s Like Mike, a kids comedy about a boy who dreams of becoming a famous basketball player.)
She then clarified, “One of my kids likes [it].”
The Civil War star shares Ennis Howard, born in May 2018, and James Robert, born in May 2021, with fellow actor Plemons. The pair got engaged in 2017 and expanded their family before eventually tying the knot in Jamaica in 2022.
Kirsten Dunst is keeping her kids offline. Dunst, 41, shares two sons, Ennis, 5, and James, 2, with husband Jesse Plemons and told Variety that the kids are not allowed electronics while they’re at home. “We’ve got record players,” Dunst said. Dunst added that by keeping her children off the internet, she hopes they will […]
Dunst and Plemons recently starred alongside one another in the hit film Civil War — a last-minute cameo on behalf of her husband that had the pair working opposite each other in what can be described as an intense exchange.
“It happened during rehearsal that the actor dropped out, and Jesse was there [in Atlanta, where the movie was filmed] with the kids,” the actress told Seth Meyers during an April 10 appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers. “And I suggested him.”
She added at the time of her husband’s unruly character, “Nobody wants to play this role. It’s very intense.”
Kirsten Dunst and Jesse PlemonsJohn Shearer/WireImage
“I will say, it helps that I feel like we’ve seen Jesse over the years, both play good guys and bad guys, and we know him to be a good guy,” Meyers responded at the time. “You’re right, if it was some actor I’d never seen before, I would be, like, repulsed every time I saw him ever since. So I feel like Jesse took one for the team.”
“He really did,” Dunst agreed. “He’s a brilliant actor.”
Dunst’s kids are likely to be unfamiliar with her latest film, Roofman, as well. Starring Channing Tatum as escaped convict and professional thief Jeffrey Manchester, the film follows Tatum’s character after he finds solace inside a Toys “R” Us, managing to evade arthritis for months before he falls in love with Dunst’s character, Leigh Wainscott, a divorced mom.
When asked what drew her to the role, Dunst made it clear that it had less to do with the story itself and more to do with who was involved in telling it.
“To be honest, working with Derek Cainfrance,” Dunst told Us of the chance to create alongside the film’s director. “I love his movies, and I love acting in his films and I wanted to be a part of that process. So he could have asked me to do anything, and I would have worked with him.”
Kirsten Dunst is reflecting on sharing a very challenging scene with her husband, Jesse Plemons, in the upcoming dystopian film Civil War. In the futuristic movie, California and Texas have seceded and united to form the separatist “Western Forces” in an attempt to overthrow the established government. Dunst, 41, portrays Lee, a renowned photojournalist traveling […]
Based on a true story, Dunst also had a chance to meet the real-life Leigh Wainscott in preparation for the role — an experience she said helped her better portray her in the film.
“She has a lot of grace,” Dunst said. “And she’s so, you know, forgiving of what happened and still talks to Jeff. And she was just very giving of her presence — her natural presence. So that’s something that I could take with me in portraying Leigh.”
Thank You!
You have successfully subscribed.
Dust also dished on what it was like to work alongside Channing.
“He’s lovely,” she gushed of her costar. “He’s a wonderful guy, and also just a very present actor and really kind.”
Jacob Elordi knew Wuthering Heights would elicit a reaction among fans — and according to the actor, that’s a good thing.
“I think what [director Emerald Fennell] has done is really perfect and super beautiful,” Elordi, 28, shared in a Tuesday, September 30, interview with WSJ. Magazine. “It’s electric. And it’s also like nails on a chalkboard. It does something. It moves you in some kind of way, good or bad, but it will move you.”
Elordi stars as Heathcliff in Fennell’s upcoming adaptation of Emily Brontë’s classic novel, a scorned lover who seeks revenge on foster sister Catherine (Margot Robbie) after she ends their affair and marries someone else. Eloridi’s involvement in the project has been a topic of conversation among scholars and fans of the literature since it was announced last year, as Heathcliff is referred to in the text as a “dark-skinned gypsy” with “black eyes.” The description has led many to believe the character was written to be a person of color.
Elordi and Robbie’s ages have also been called into question — Elordi is 28, while Robbie is 37 — with the novel depicting both Heathcliff and Catherine as no older than teenagers by the story’s end.
Wuthering Heights director Emerald Fennell is defending her choice to cast Jacob Elordi in the role of Heathcliff for her upcoming adaptation of Emily Brontë’s novel. “[Jacob Elordi] looked exactly like the illustration of Heathcliff in the first book that I read,” Fennell, 39, said during a Friday, September 26, panel at the Brontë Women’s […]
Some fans have also brought up the erotic nature of Fennell’s Wuthering Heights trailer, released last month, and the decision for Elordi’s Heathcliff to sport a gold tooth and muttonchops in the film. When asked about those stylistic choices for Heathcliff, Elordi told WSJ., “I mean, he has them.”
Fennell herself recently defended her casting and aesthetic choices while appearing on a panel at Brontë Women’s Writing Festival in England earlier this month. There, she explained that upon meeting Elordi amid filming for 2023’s Saltburn she felt the actor “looked exactly like the illustration of Heathcliff in the first book that I read. And it was so awful because I so wanted to scream. Not the professional thing to do, obviously.”
She added, “I had been thinking about making [Wuthering Heights], and it seemed to me he had the thing. He’s a very surprising actor.”
As for the sexual tone of the film’s first teaser, Fennell pushed back on the idea that Wuthering Heights isn’t erotic, claiming that there is an “enormous amount of sadomasochism in this book. There’s a reason people were deeply shocked by it [when it was published].”
Jacob Elordi.Warner Bros. Pictures
She also promised that while she did take liberties in the story, she also stayed true to as much of Brontë’s dialogue as possible. “I was really determined to preserve as much of her dialogue [as possible] because her dialogue is the best dialogue ever,” she said. “I couldn’t better it, and who could?”
While Elordi’s full Healthcliff reveal won’t be hitting theaters until 2026, he’ll transform entirely in December for Guiellermo del Toro’sFrankenstein. To prepare for the role of the titular monster, Elordi crafted a scrapbook in which he wrote with his non-dominant hand so that the penmanship would look unfamiliar.
“If someone got murdered in my vicinity and they picked this book up, they’d probably just put me in jail,” he joked to WSJ. “Just in case.”
Elordi told the outlet he also focused on mimicking the facial movements of his golden retriever, Layla, in order to bring the uncanny character to life.
Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie’s Wuthering Heights is one of the most highly anticipated films of 2026 — but the latest adaptation of Emily Brontë’s classic novel has faced a fair share of controversy from the very start. Brontë’s 1847 novel follows the Earnshaw and Linton families during late 18th century England. The story focuses […]
“I was copying what her lips were doing and her face was doing, and then her nose touched my nose, and it went, Bzzzt!” he recalled of one study session. “It completely carried me through into the movie.”
As both Wuthering Heights and Frankenstein are two of this year’s most anticipated films — and adaptations of beloved novels — Elordi shared that he’s learned to turn out the noise by sticking to what matters: acting.
“I literally just go to my premieres,” he explained, noting that his inner circle is not into the idea of fame and celebrity. “I don’t really acknowledge attention. My reality is in the start of production and the end of production, and then I go home.”
