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Alec Baldwin is fighting with another Trump impersonator on Twitter

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Playing President Donald Trump on "Saturday Night Live" has led to some heated exchanges on Alec Baldwin's own Twitter account.

On Wednesday, Baldwin got into a Twitter feud with fellow Donald Trump impersonator Anthony Atamanuik.

The drama began when Baldwin went on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" and hinted that he might do his Trump act at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, as the real Trump has said he's not attending.

"Well, I wouldn’t say I’m not lobbying," Baldwin told Kimmel. "People would say, 'Would you do it?' And there's a couple of guys on the internet who say, 'No, please. I'm the only man who should play Trump.' And there's a lot of Trump competition sucked into this."

Atamanuik felt that was a dig at him, as he's played Trump on the Comedy Central show "@midnight." So he took to Twitter, and Baldwin replied. 

Here's the exchange, with a terse response from Baldwin:

There is a little backstory here. Atamanuik auditioned for "SNL" and did his Trump impersonation. This was before Baldwin began doing his Trump this season. The first time Baldwin did it, some thought it was very similar to how Atamanuik does his Trump. Baldwin has said in interviews that he did little preparation to come up with his Trump.

But comedian James Adomian‏, who has played Bernie Sanders opposite Atamanuik’s Trump in sketches, is calling Baldwin and "SNL" out.

Baldwin has replied to him as well with an insult, saying "the only thing you have is bitterness and obscurity":

 

SEE ALSO: How the company behind 2 of the year's biggest movies is blowing up the Hollywood playbook

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NOW WATCH: J.K. Rowling roasts fans threatening to burn Harry Potter books because of her anti-Trump rhetoric


Arnold Schwarzenegger is leaving 'The Apprentice' because of the show's 'baggage'

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arnold schwarzennegger celebrity apprentice nbc catchphrase

Arnold Schwarzenegger has told NBC he's leaving "The Celebrity Apprentice" after only his one season hosting the show, according to a New York Times reporter.

In the statement from Schwarzenegger posted by New York Times TV reporter John Koblin, the actor says that he "loved every second of working with NBC and Mark Burnett." He goes on to praise the celebrity stars and crew, and says he would like to work with them "again on a show that doesn't have this baggage."

The "baggage" he's referring to is almost certainly the fact that "The Celebrity Apprentice," an offshoot of the original "The Apprentice," was previously hosted by President Donald Trump.

"The Apprentice" has seen its ratings sink since Schwarzenegger took over hosting duties from Trump for the new season. Trump has also mocked the lowered viewership, saying the movie star-turned-reality host got "destroyed."

SEE ALSO: All the most shocking things about Scientology, according to Leah Remini's revealing show

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NOW WATCH: Here's what Johnny Depp reportedly spends $2M a month on

'The Walking Dead' star Christine Evangelista weighs in on Sherry's sudden exit

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walking dead christine evangelista Liz E Morgan amc

Warning: Spoilers ahead if you haven't caught up with "The Walking Dead."

Fans are still processing the sudden departure of Sherry from last week's episode of AMC's "The Walking Dead," but the star behind the role, Christine Evangelista, says she expected that her time on the zombie show was limited.

Sherry was Dwight's (Austin Amelio) ex-wife and later, one of murderous Negan's (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) many reluctant wives. Despite the danger, she was kind to Daryl (Norman Reedus) and helped him escape from Negan. After that, Evangelista said she began preparing herself to leave the show.

"I knew from earlier in the season that she was the one that helped Daryl," Evangelista told Business Insider at an NBC Universal event on Thursday. "So I knew that her time was limited. I was curious as to what she was going to do next. Sherry is always a step ahead in some ways. She always has some sort of plan. And I think that once Negan found out that she’s the one that let Daryl out, which I’m sure he would’ve, she would’ve been dead. So I think she had no choice but to go."

christina evangelista norman reedus walking deadSherry escaped from the Sanctuary, but not before leaving Dwight a harsh, yet heartfelt, goodbye letter. The show seems to leave the door open for her coming back.

"I mean it was a sad letter that she wrote him, but she’s a badass," Evangelista said. "She’s running right now. She’s doing her thing. I have a lot of faith in her."

Fans of Evangelista don't have to wait long to see her on TV again. She stars on the new E! drama "The Arrangement,"in which she plays an up-and-coming actress who's offered a wedding contract to a famous Hollywood leading man, who's played by former "Dallas" reboot and "Desperate Housewives" star Josh Henderson.

"It happened within a couple of days," the actress said of going from "The Walking Dead" to working on "The Arrangement," which premieres Sunday at 10 p.m. "I think I literally went from one set to the other, which was awesome. You know, it’s a completely different world. It was definitely a sharp transition."

SEE ALSO: The most shocking 'Walking Dead' death probably isn't who you think it is

DON'T MISS: 8 TV shows you need to watch if you love 'The Walking Dead'

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NOW WATCH: ‘The Walking Dead’ fans think they uncovered something huge in this scene from the latest episode

The star of 'The Arrangement' reveals how the show explores Hollywood's fake relationships

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Christine Evangelista made the leap from badass Sherry on "The Walking Dead" to starring on E!'s new drama "The Arrangement," which premieres Sunday at 10 p.m.

"It happened within a couple of days," the actress told Business Insider at an NBC Universal event on Thursday of going from the zombie hit to working on the E! show. "I think I literally went from one set to the other, which was awesome. You know, it’s a completely different world. It was definitely a sharp transition."

On "The Arrangement," Evangelista plays an up-and-coming actress, Megan Morrison, who's offered a wedding contract to Kyle West, a famous Hollywood leading man and member of a cult-like religion, who's played by former "Dallas" reboot and "Desperate Housewives" star Josh Henderson.

The audition process for Evangelista mirrored that of her character on the show, in which a spark between the actors was important if they were to pull off a fake relationship.

"Josh and I got the roles the old-fashioned way. We both auditioned for it," she said. "And it was very important that the two of us had great chemistry. We did have a couple of readings together, so they can see us. So we met very similarly to how Megan and Kyle met on the show. We met in a screen test and we got along really well. And a couple weeks later, we’re filming the pilot."

Many in the media had wondered if the show's producers found inspiration in the alleged wedding contract between Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, which was reportedly controlled by Scientology. During the Television Critics Association press tour in January, executive producer Jonathan Abrams shot down the comparison.

"Even if I could legally do it... I don’t have the authority to do it,” Abrahams told a room of skeptical journalists about whether he could confirm that Cruise and Holmes were an inspiration for the show. "It doesn’t matter, because it really isn’t."

christine evangelista josh henderson arrangement e.JPGIn light of the producer's denial, Evangelista pointed out that fake romantic relationships have always been a part of the fabric of Hollywood.

"We’ve all heard of rumors. You read any tabloid, right?" she said. "That’s what a marketing team does. There’s strategy involved with promoting a movie. I don’t personally know anyone that’s been forced into a contract marriage. I think if you think back to the old Hollywood studio days, back when Paramount had players and you worked for one studio lot, of course there was some kind of internal matchmaking involved to promote things. So this has been around for a really long time. And I’m just very surprised that there’s never been a TV show about it."

Evangelista thinks that the time is right for a show like "The Arrangement," since the amount of information the public knows now and expects to know about celebrities has become so broad.

"I think with reality shows, people want to know what happens behind closed doors," she told us. "And I think that’s kind of what the show is about. It’s revealing what’s behind the curtain, how do things play out, how do things get made, how are things dramatized, and that’s what the show really is. It’s very intriguing."

Watch a trailer for "The Arrangement" below:

SEE ALSO: 'The Walking Dead' star Christine Evangelista weighs in on Sherry's sudden exit

DON'T MISS: All the most shocking things about Scientology, according to Leah Remini's revealing show

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NOW WATCH: 7 famous people reveal why they are Scientologists

A journalist alleges that Scientology covered up sexual-assault allegations against 'That 70s Show' star

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The Los Angeles Police Department is conducting an ongoing investigation on sexual assault allegations against “That ’70s Show” star Danny Masterson.

According to journalist Tony Ortega, best known for his extensive reporting on the Church of Scientology, the Church allegedly covered up the allegations — stemming from the early 2000s. The LAPD didn’t comment on Scientology’s involvement with the investigation.

“The Los Angeles Police Department Robbery Homicide Division, Sexual Assault Section, is conducting an investigation involving the actor Danny Masterson,” reads a statement obtained by Variety from the LAPD on Friday. “Three women have come forward and disclosed that they were sexually assaulted by Masterson during the early 2000’s.”

Masterson denied the claims in a statement sent by his rep to Variety, saying the “false allegations appear to be motivated to boost Leah Remini’s anti-Scientology television series.” The accuser’s name has been redacted from the statement.

"We are aware of [the alleged victim’s] 16-year-old allegations. It was only after [the alleged victim] was in contact with Leah Remini that she made allegations of sexual assault by Mr. Masterson. The alleged incident occurred in the middle of their six-year relationship, after which she continued to be his longtime girlfriend. Significantly, during their long relationship she made numerous inconsistent claims that she was previously raped by at least three other famous actors and musicians.

When Danny ended the relationship she continued to pursue him, even making threats to beat up his current wife Bijou Phillips unless she left him. In fact, we are informed by the Church that the only demand [the alleged victim] made of the Church after Danny broke up with her was asking for their help to intervene so the breakup would not be permanent.

We are aware also that approximately 14 years ago a woman referred to in the blog made allegations of sexual assault and that the LADP interviewed numerous witnesses and determined the claim had no merit. Based on reading the anti-Scientology blog that posted this story, these false allegations appear to be motivated to boost Leah Remini’s anti-Scientology television series since [the alleged victim] only came forward after connecting with Leah Remini."

Ortega reports that the women — fellow Scientology members — were pressured by the church not to report their accusations to the police. The victims came forward after reaching out to Remini as a result of her A&E Scientology docu-series, “Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath.”

Masterson played Steven Hyde in the long-running Fox sitcom “That ’70s Show.” He currently stars opposite Ashton Kutcher, another “’70s Show” alum, in the Netflix comedy “The Ranch.” The 40-year-old is married to Bijou Phillips.

SEE ALSO: All the most shocking things about Scientology, according to Leah Remini's revealing show

DON'T MISS: Conan O'Brien says Scientology is 'not happy' about his revealing Leah Remini interview

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NOW WATCH: 7 famous people reveal why they are Scientologists

Trump claims Arnold Schwarzenegger 'was fired' from 'The Celebrity Apprentice'

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President Donald Trump isn’t letting Arnold Schwarzenegger have the last word.

After the “New Celebrity Apprentice” host said in an interview published Friday that he would “decline” to do the show again if asked, and blamed Trump for the show’s poor ratings, the president retaliated Saturday morning by saying Schwarzenegger “was fired.”

“Arnold Schwarzenegger isn’t voluntarily leaving the Apprentice,” Trump tweeted, “he was fired by his bad (pathetic) ratings, not by me. Sad end to great show.”

Schwarzenegger tweeted back, “You should think about hiring a new joke writer and a fact checker.”

 

 Trump hosted “The Apprentice” since its inception in 2004. Schwarzenegger took over for Season 15 due to Trump’s presidential campaign and eventual election. Still, as Variety first reported, Trump retained his executive producer credit on the show. The NBC show has not yet been picked up for another season, with or without Schwarzenegger.

On Friday, Schwarzenegger blamed the show’s poor ratings on Trump’s continued involvement. “When people found out that Trump was still involved as executive producer and was still receiving money from the show, then half the people [started] boycotting it,” he said.

With Schwarzenegger as host, the show has struggled in the ratings, which Trump has dissed over Twitter and in person. In one recent instance in February, the president mocked Schwarzenegger at the National Prayer Breakfast. “I want to just pray for Arnold if we can — for those ratings,” he said.

Schwarzenegger responded in a video posted to Twitter, “Hey Donald, I have a great idea: Why don’t we switch jobs?”

Just hours before on Saturday morning, Trump had unleashed a series of tweets accusing Barack Obama of “Nixon/Watergate”-level mismanagement, including wire tapping his phones during the election. “This is McCarthyism!” he tweeted.

SEE ALSO: Arnold Schwarzenegger's 'Celebrity Apprentice' finale ratings are nowhere near Trump's numbers

DON'T MISS: Stephen Colbert burns Trump for his feud with Arnold Schwarzenegger

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NOW WATCH: Trump ripped Schwarzenegger's 'Apprentice' ratings during the National Prayer Breakfast — and Arnold had a great response

'Billions' is the hot-button show Wall Street is obsessed with — here's what it's all about

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bobby axelrod, billions

“Billions,” which just started its second season in late February, is back and better than ever.

The Showtime drama series gives viewers a closer look at a hedge-fund manager who's making, well, billions. And it also follows the U.S. district attorney trying to out him for insider trading. Its primary focus is on the corruption of certain Wall Streeters, and the lengths attorneys will go to expose them. The writers take some of the storylines from real life. 

And in season two, they've introduced the first gender-nonconforming charcter on television, plus a timely legal storyline.

Here's everything you need to know about "Billions," the TV show Wall Street is obsessed with:

 

SEE ALSO: Hollywood stars who rejected their Oscars

It’s got a star-studded cast, with Damien Lewis and Paul Giamatti leading.

You probably remmeber Emmy winner Lewis as Brody from "Homeland." Giamatti is also an Emmy winner, and an Oscar nominee. 



Damien Lewis' character, Bobby Axelrod, is loosely based on a real-life Wall Street guy.

He's inspired by hedge-fund manager Steve Cohen of SAC Capital. In 2012, Cohen was involved in an insider-trading scandal.

On the show, Axelrod comes from a blue-collar backgorund, and was one of the few from his company to surive the terrorist attacks on September 11. While Axelrod gives to plenty of charities and has an excellent public persona, he uses insider trading and bribery to benefit the wealth of his firm.



You might also recognize Malin Akerman.

She plays Axelrod's wife. Back in 2009, she was Silk Spectre II in "Watchmen." And before joining "Billions," she starred on ABC's short-lived family comedy "Trophy Wife" opposite Bradley Whitford. She was also on Adult Swim's "Childrens Hospital."



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

'SNL' mocks Attorney General Jeff Sessions with 'Forrest Gump' parody

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"Saturday Night Live's" Kate McKinnon reprised her Jeff Sessions impersonation on Saturday, complete with a box of Forrest Gump chocolates and a special delivery from host Octavia Spencer’s pie-baking Minny from "The Help."

Both the pie and the movie mash-up served as the Baldwin-less cold open to this weekend’s "SNL," as McKinnon, in full Sessions drag, sat on a park bench a la "Forrest Gump," chatting up any number of coming-and-going strangers. “Life is like a box of chocolates,” McKinnon said to Leslie Jones before dropping his racist boom: “Sure got a whole lot of brown ones in there.”

The sketch had the Sessions-as-Gump character spilling his guts to the various bench-sharers, bragging about all the famous people he knows “This is my good friend Kellyanne – she ain’t got no legs,” Sessions said, pointing to the now-famous photo of Conway with legs tucked just so on a White House sofa.

(McKinnon, in her usual Kellyanne get-up, was seen striking the pose for a couple brief moments later in the episode as "SNL" cut to commercials).

Telling anyone and everyone he never talked to the Russians, McKinnon’s Sessions changes his tune when Beck Bennett’s shirtless Vlad Putin shows up. “This meeting never happened,” Putin says. “I wasn’t going to remember it anyway,” says Sessions.

The sketch’s payoff, though, comes when "SNL" guest host Spencer arrives, dressed as her "Help" character Minny Jackson. Surprising Sessions by remembering his run-in with Corretta Scott King (“Oh, a lot of people from Alabama remember that, sir”), Spencer then introduces herself: “My name’s Minny,” she says. “You don’t know me, I’m from a different movie.”

Then the punchline: She gifts Sessions with a delicious-looking pie. No explanation or gory details necessary to anyone who’s seen "The Help."

Watch the sketch below:

SEE ALSO: Alec Baldwin: I'd stand in for Trump at the White House Correspondents' Dinner

DON'T MISS: John Oliver weighs in on Trump skipping the White House Correspondents' Dinner: 'Who gives a s---?'

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NOW WATCH: Sessions recuses himself from future investigations into Trump campaign


Investors are going nuts for Snapchat — here's how Snap thinks it can turn a $500 million loss into profit (SNAP)

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and spiegel signed the nyses book of distinguished guests

Investors are going crazy for Snapchat parent company Snap, and the stock is up more than 50% since its Thursday IPO, with a market cap of more than $30 billion. 

But Snap is still losing a ton of money — to the tune of $514 million in 2016.

So how is Snap telling its investors it can make money, eventually?

Indications are that Snap doesn't expect to gain the gargantuan scale of Facebook, but rather create a premium product to wring out more money per user.

One big way Snap thinks it can do this is by grabbing TV ad budgets, a shared goal with digital giants like YouTube and Facebook. This money has been slow to move from TV to digital video, but Snap thinks it's in the best position when that accelerates.

That's because Snap considers Snapchat ads already superior to those on television, and way better ads than other digital video competitors, according to the Snap S-1 filing. We previously looked at Snap's argument for why that is, and in the wake of the IPO frenzy, it's a good time to revisit it.

The competition is lacking

In the S-1 filing, Snap tells the story of how it set out to create an "engaging, creative, and fun" ad format for its mobile app.

First, Snap looked at its digital-video competitors and concluded that the existing video ad options were horrible. Here's how the company described it:

"Two of the most popular forms of digital video advertising at the time were pre-roll horizontal video advertisements and in-feed horizontal video advertisements. Pre-roll advertisements played before the content that a user wanted to watch, leaving users feeling like they had been blocked by an advertisement and frustrated that they had to wait to see what they had selected to watch. In-feed advertisements were less obstructive, but they weren't full screen and users often scrolled right past them — just like a banner advertisement on a website."

So the two dominant forms were lacking, according to Snap. But the company found some light in TV ads, which its community of users enjoyed the most "because it was part of the experience, especially when the advertisements were funny, creative, and entertaining"— which sounds suspiciously similar to the ad product Snap wanted to create.

TV, but for teens

TV is where Snap saw an opening.

The demographic that loves Snapchat is also the demographic that is watching less TV, according to Snap — so if the company could recreate TV ads on mobile, it could score big.

"We wanted to figure out how to capture the entertainment and creativity of television advertisements," Snap wrote.

However, Snap made a few changes from TV ads. First, the ads were "vertical video," meant to be viewed when holding your phone vertically. Second, they were skippable to give users the choice of whether to watch them. (To be fair, YouTube pioneered skippable online video ads years ago with its TrueView ad format.)

Like TV, Snapchat showed ads only when users chose to watch a series of videos with sound — a "Story." Ads appeared amid the videos, except in Snapchat you could skip them.

Snap declared its ad product, with this formula, "as good as television."

Swiping and targeting

But Snap wanted to make its ads better than TV by "using some of the unique features of smartphones and Snapchat." 

In the S-1, Snap went over the two main ways it thinks its ads improved on the TV experience:

  • Swiping up."For example, a user who views a Snap ad about a new product can swipe up on the Snap ad to buy the product instantly from the advertiser's website without leaving the Snapchat application."
  • Targeting. Snap takes context into account to serve up the ad most relevant to the user.

And there you have it: Snap's thesis for why Snapchat video ads are not only better than those in other mobile competitors, but also better than those on TV.

Hello, TV

There's a good reason Snap, in its S-1, compared its ads with TV ads.

TV ad budgets have been slow to follow video consumption on your smartphone, and there's still a huge pool of money floating around — over $70 billion in ad spending on TV in the US alone, according to eMarketer.

Snap thinks those TV ad dollars are ripe for the taking.

"Worldwide advertising spend is expected to grow from $652 billion in 2016 to $767 billion in 2020," Snap wrote. "The fastest-growing segment is mobile advertising, which is expected to grow nearly 3x from $66 billion in 2016 to $196 billion in 2020. We believe that one of the major factors driving this growth is the shift of people's attention from their televisions to their mobile phones."

If ad budgets move away from TV and toward mobile phones, it makes sense those new dollars would gravitate toward something that feels more like old-school TV. Snap's pitch is that its ads are like TV, only improved.

Advertisers aren't jumping on the Snap bandwagon just yet — the company's revenue in 2016 was $400 million, although Snap is still in the early stages of ramping up its video ad business.

And Snap certainly isn't the only tech company going for these budgets. Facebook's latest quarterly earnings call focused on how its video product was about to get better, specifically more "premium" and more episodic. Sound familiar?  

What remains to be seen is whether TV advertisers will buy it — either from Snap, Facebook, YouTube, or anyone trying to convince them that this is the generation of mobile products that finally make sense for them.

SEE ALSO: Here are the strengths and weaknesses of Facebook's plan to grab TV's ad money

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NOW WATCH: 6 details you may have missed in the 'Stranger Things' season 2 trailer

Inside the homes of Hollywood legends Bette Davis and Joan Crawford with FX's new show 'Feud'

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Ryan Murphy, the producer behind Emmy-winning series "American Horror Story" and "American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson," has a new television series, "Feud: Bette and Joan," which premieres Sunday at 10 p.m. on FX.

The eight-episode series gets into the juicy details of the notorious rivalry between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford (played by Susan Sarandon and Jessica Lange, respectively) while shooting the 1962 hit horror film, "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?"

And in doing so, the producers went to great lengths to make sure that the sets were as close to reality as possible.

Heading that huge task was production designer Judy Becker. A Hollywood veteran, Becker's most recent credits include critically acclaimed films "Joy" and "Carol."

"It's an interesting period to design for sure," Becker told reporters of her decision to take on the job during a recent visit to the "Feud" set in Los Angeles.

"It's always fun," she continued, "because we're doing different worlds and different characters. So this is like a Hollywood world and kind of over-the-top characters, and I haven't done that to this degree before. So, it was pretty appealing."

Becker uses all the tools and tricks available to her in order to re-create 1960s Hollywood, from online searches to hiring researchers, perusing prop houses, examining footage, visiting the actual sites, and tapping private collectors.

Here's an inside look at two Hollywood legends' lives from the set of "Feud: Bette and Joan":

SEE ALSO: FX is already renewing Ryan Murphy's new show 'Feud' for a second season about Charles and Diana

DON'T MISS: Watch the first trailer for FX's new show about one of Hollywood's most notorious feuds

Joan Crawford had very expensive, modern (for that time) Hollywood tastes.

"Joan lived in this very grand way, which was very fashionable in terms of design," Becker said of Crawford's home, which took two months to re-create. "She was really keeping up with the times."

"She was fashionable, Hollywood fashionable," she added.



Joan Crawford hired famed interior decorator William Haines to outfit her Brentwood-area, Los Angeles home in Hollywood splendor.

"Joan was very good friends with a well-known decorator of the time, William Haines, who started out as an actor and then became a pretty famous interior designer," Becker said.



Williams Haines' furniture would be "a fortune now" if you could find them.

Becker said that William Haines"designed all the furniture that's in the living room, the kind of tufted furniture. We made those for the show, but they're based on his designs, which cost a fortune now if you can find them."



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Sunday's episode of 'Big Little Lies' proves the most interesting part of the show isn't its murder mystery

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Warning: This post includes spoilers for the third episode of "Big Little Lies."

The second episode of "Big Little Lies" has a shocking scene that warps the dynamic of the entire show.

It happens shortly after Celeste (Nicole Kidman) and Perry (Alexander Skarsgård) drop their kids off from school. Perry is fuming with anger because of a fight they had earlier.

At first, they try to talk it over. But Perry erupts. He grabs her and, it seems, brutally sexually assaults her.

Then, the tone changes. Celeste, it seems, willingly went along with the violence.

It was a strange moment. Was it, in fact, consensual? Was Celeste acting to get it over with? Does this happen often?

The scene added a new sense of menace to their relationship, and to the show overall. "Big Little Lies" has a backdrop of danger because we know there's a murder that has to be solved, but the harsh and perplexing reality of Celeste's and Perry's relationship is more visceral, and more immediate than the murder mystery we still don't know anything about.

Big little lies meeting with principal

In the third episode of the show, director Jean-Marc Vallée  continues to leave the murder mystery on the backburner. Instead, he gives us more drama between the parents, and a poignant scene where Jane (Shailene Woodley) does a family tree project with her son, who never knew his father.

But the most intriguing scene is, once again, between Celeste and Perry. They visit a couple's therapist. At first, it seems like they want to address their outburst from the previous episode, but it quickly becomes clear that their violent, sexually demeaning fight wasn't unusual.

Celeste does almost all the talking, while Perry listens and looks down at his hands. She says they're happy with their relationship, and it's only a matter of tempering their intense passion for each other.

"Passion is definitely not our problem," she tells the therapist. "If there is, maybe it's because there's too much of it."

big little lies nicole kidman celeste

Notice the neutral language. Celeste equivocates the dynamic between her and her husband. She doesn't illustrate it as a dynamic where he's in control, but as one where they're both guilty of violence.

"We love each other very much," she says. "We fight a lot and we say things and we yell and scream. We just have a lot of anger and we just need a lot of help controlling."

Short of defending himself, Perry appears to be at a loss. He can't say where his rage comes from, and says he's afraid of losing his wife because she's so attractive. He's insecure, constantly looking for evidence that she doesn't love him anymore, despite her reassurances that he's the perfect husband.

Celeste, though, recognizes that their fights have turned into a regular cycle of violence. 

"We get angry, we fight, and then we have this crazy, angry sex," she says. "And then we make up and it's all normal. And we have this dirty secret."

big little lies meeting with therapist

It's a strange, emotionally muddled relationship. Celeste's notion that both she and her husband are both complicit in their violence isn't convincing. And though it does seem like she's really in love with her husband, it doesn't seem like a sadomasochistic relationship, either.

The mystery here deepens. How do you follow up a conversation like that ? Maybe they'll visit the therapist again but what happens when they get home? Is Celeste actually violent towards her husband, or does the violence go only one way? And does it even matter, when he's so much stronger than her?

This balancing act makes the Celeste-Perry dynamic the most interesting, and frightening, part of the series. A murder mystery implies that there's a dark undertow in the postcard-perfect town of Monterey. But their relationship proves that there's something dangerous.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Here’s why flights take longer than they did 50 years ago

John Oliver explains why we are in the midst of 'stupid Watergate'

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Last week began with President Donald Trump receiving his highest approval ratings in office after addressing Congress on Tuesday, but it ended with his administration embroiled in another controversy when it was revealed that Attorney General Jeff Sessions met with the Russian ambassador twice during the election, though he didn't disclose that at his confirmation hearing.

The series of events was dubbed "stupid Watergate" by John Oliver on Sunday night's episode of "Last Week Tonight."

"A potential scandal with all the intrigue of Watergate, except everyone involved is really bad at everything," Oliver said when defining the phrase.

And Oliver's new term only seemed to hold more water on Saturday when Trump tweeted the accusation that his predecessor, Barack Obama, wiretapped Trump Tower, a claim that FBI Director James Comey says is false.

Congress will still investigate Trump's claims, but there was something else Oliver noticed about Trump's latest controversial tweet.

"We are now at a point where the president is so busy hurling destabilizing conspiracy theories around we can’t even pause to enjoy the fact that he misspelled the word ‘tap,’" said Oliver, referring to Trump's tweet where he spelled the word as "tapp."

Watch the entire Oliver opening below.

 

SEE ALSO: Jordan Peele: Why Allison Williams is perfect for the "very important character" in "Get Out"

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NOW WATCH: Oscar nominees receive a $100,000+ swag bag — here's what's inside

David Letterman weighs in on Jimmy Fallon's infamous Trump interview: 'I would have gone to work on Trump'

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If David Letterman could have held on for another year in late night, he would've had a good time taking on President Donald Trump.

"If I still had a show, people would have to come and take me off the stage," Letterman told New York magazine in a new interview. "'Dave, that's enough about Trump. We've run out of tape.' It's all I'd be talking about. I'd be exhausted."

In previous years, Letterman enjoyed having Trump on his show. They went toe-to-toe several times. In fact, Hillary Clinton used a clip from a 2012 "Late Show" interview— in which Letterman called out Trump for having his Macy's clothing line made in Asia — in one of her campaign commercials.

"I always regarded him as, if you're going to have New York City, you gotta have a Donald Trump," the 69-year-old comedian said. "He was a joke of a wealthy guy. We didn't take him seriously. He'd sit down, and I would just start making fun of him. He never had any retort. He was big and doughy, and you could beat him up. He seemed to have a good time, and the audience loved it, and that was Donald Trump."

But that was before Trump was elected president. Letterman says he has stopped finding the real-estate mogul funny in that capacity.

"I'm tired of people being bewildered about everything he says: 'I can't believe he said that.' We gotta stop that and instead figure out ways to protect ourselves from him," Letterman said. "We know he's crazy. We gotta take care of ourselves here now."

When asked about Jimmy Fallon's interview with Trump during the election on NBC's "The Tonight Show," which observers criticized for its lack of tough questions, Letterman offered how he would have behaved in the situation.

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"I don't want to criticize Jimmy Fallon," he said, "but I can only tell you what I would have done in that situation: I would have gone to work on Trump."

And if Letterman had a chance to do just that, he already knows what he'd want to cover with the president.

"I would just start with a list: 'You did this. You did that. Don't you feel stupid for having done that, Don? And who's this goon [White House chief strategist] Steve Bannon, and why do you want a white supremacist as one of your advisers? Come on, Don, we both know you're lying. Now, stop it.' I think I would be in the position to give him a bit of a scolding, and he would have to sit there and take it. Yeah, I would like an hour with Donald Trump — an hour and a half."

Read New York magazine's interview with Letterman »

SEE ALSO: David Letterman: Donald Trump is a 'damaged human,' and I would have 'gone right after him'

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Netflix is in early talks with the 'Gilmore Girls' creators for more episodes

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Are more episodes of “Gilmore Girls” in store for Netflix? Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s chief content officer, told the U.K. Press Association that there have been “very preliminary” discussions with “Gilmore” chiefs Amy Sherman-Palladino and Dan Palladino about producing more installments of the franchise.

“We hope. We obviously loved the success of the show, fans loved how well it was done, it delivered what they hoped,” Sarandos said, according to a report published Sunday by Britain’s North-West Evening Mail. Sarandos was talking up the success of the show at a press event in Germany.

“The worst thing is to wait a couple of years for your favourite show to come back and for it to disappoint you but they sure delivered and people were really excited about more and we have been talking to them about the possibility of that,” he said, according to the Evening Mail.

Reps for Netflix and “Gilmore Girls” producer Warner Bros. Television could not immediately be reached for comment on Sunday.

Netflix brought “Gilmore Girls” back last November for four 90-minute installments that were billed as “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life.” Fans of the WB Network drama were heartened as the Sherman-Palladino and Palladino finally got the chance to deliver the story they intended to tell a decade ago when the original series wrapped its run. But friction with the studio led the couple to exit before the show’s seventh and final season.

The door for additional episodes was left wide open by the story twist at the close of the fourth “Year in the Life” segment. Stars Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel have already committed to new projects, which could complicate efforts to schedule the production of new installments. Graham has signed on to the Fox/20th Century Fox TV comedy pilot “Linda From HR”; Bledel is a co-star of the upcoming Hulu/MGM TV drama “The Handmaid’s Tale.”

SEE ALSO: 'Gilmore Girls' star talks about the surprising revelation of his character's sexuality

DON'T MISS: How 'Gilmore Girls' finally landed its Netflix revival after one star had 'given up hope'

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'SNL' star Pete Davidson: 'I quit drugs' and am 'sober for the first time in 8 years'

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On Monday, "Saturday Night Live" cast member Pete Davidson took to his Instagram to reveal that he has been battling drug addiction and is now sober.

"I know I've kinda been missing, on social media and on the show," Davidson wrote in his post. "I quit drugs and am happy and sober for the first time in 8 years."

Davidson, 23, gives credit to his girlfriend, Cazzie David (daughter of Larry David), for getting him on the straight and narrow. He posted pictures of the two together on Instagram a few hours after his post on his sobriety.

In an interview with High Times last year, Davidson revealed that he has Crohn's disease and taking medical marijuana is the only thing that makes him able to perform on "SNL."

“I found that the medicines that the doctors were prescribing me and seeing all these doctors and trying new things … weed would be the only thing that would help me eat,” he said.

Read Davidson's complete Instagram post below:

 

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Alec Baldwin says he'll end his Trump impression: 'I'm not going to do it much longer'

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Fans of Alec Baldwin's "Saturday Night Live" impersonation of President Donald Trump should probably savor it now, because the actor is planning on retiring the act soon.

In a new interview with "Extra," Baldwin explained that the volatility of Trump's administration is a reason for that decision.

“Trump just overwhelmingly lacks any kind of sportsmanship," Baldwin said. "He remains bitter and angry, and you want to look at him and go, 'You won!' His policies aside, which you can hate, I thought he would have just relaxed and said, 'Hey man.'

"There's a style that the president has to have," Baldwin continued. "The maliciousness of this White House has people worried... That's why I’m not going to do it much longer, the impersonation. I don’t know how much more people can take it."

Baldwin's suggestion the he wouldn't impersonate Trump much longer comes on the heels of his recent Twitter squabble with another Trump impersonator over comments he made during an appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" Baldwin mentioned there were other impersonators lobbying to play Trump at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, saying, "F--- them!"

After all that drama, Baldwin said that it doesn't look like he'll be filling in for Trump at the event after all.

“I don’t think that’s going to happen," Baldwin told "Extra" host Mario Lopez. "I don’t think that they want that, for their prestige and their integrity, I think a lot of people are thinking that if Trump himself doesn’t come and face the music, as it were. I don’t know what kind of program they're going to have. If they wanted me to do it, I would probably do it. But I’m not quite sure they do. I think they may have a whole other idea.”

Watch the interview below:

SEE ALSO: Alec Baldwin: I'd stand in for Trump at the White House Correspondents' Dinner

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Stephen Colbert tries to make sense of Trump's connections to Putin in one diagram

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On Monday's "Late Show," host Stephen Colbert started talking about President Donald Trump's accusations that Obama wire-tapped phones in Trump Tower.

"The president's weekend tweetstorm felt like whiplash," he said. 

Colbert speculates that Trump's accusations are just "to distract from recent bad press. He does it all the time. He's like a magician misdirecting your attention with sleight of hand, and as we all know Trump has the slightest of hands."

Colbert then asked, "But what is the president trying to distract us from this time?"

That's when hte host brought out his "Figure-It-Out-a-Tron," which is actually just a chalkboard that he used in an attempt to illustate Trump's relationship with Russian President Valdimir Putin.

On the chalkboard was the name Trump and at the top Putin. On the right, there was a list of people and things that could connect them, including: Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn, Jeff Sessions, FBI, CIA, NSA, Wikileaks, and "administration leaks."

Colbert wrote the letter "P" next to anything on the list that could connect Trump and Putin. "There's just so much P, which again, stands for Putin," he said in the mocking bit.

You can watch the segement below:

 

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'Harry Potter' star Jason Isaacs will be the next 'Star Trek' captain

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CBS All Access has found the captain for its upcoming "Star Trek: Discovery" television series, the first "Star Trek" TV series in 11 years, the streaming service announced on Tuesday.

"Harry Potter" star Jason Isaacs has been cast to play Captain Lorca of the Starship Discovery.

Fans of the "Harry Potter" film franchise will recognize Isaacs as the conniving Voldemort devotee Lucius Malfoy. Isaacs most recently starred on Netflix's "The OA."

Previously, he starred on the USA Network series "Dig" and NBC's short-lived drama "Awake."

Additionally, Mary Wiseman has been cast in the role of Tilly, a Starfleet Academy Cadet in her final year of study, who gets assigned to the Starship Discovery. Wiseman appears on the FX comedy "Baskets."

The pair join previously announced "Star Trek: Discovery" cast members, including Sonequa Martin-GreenAnthony Rapp, Doug Jones, Michelle Yeoh, Chris Obi, Shazad Latif, and Mary Chieffo.

Alex Kurtzman ("Star Trek" film franchise, "Transformers") and Bryan Fuller ("Hannibal") are executive producing the series.

"Star Trek: Discovery" was originally planned to debut in January 2017, and was then pushed to May 2017. But in late January, CBS announced that production would be delayed once again and didn't give a new debut date.

SEE ALSO: The new 'Star Trek' series has been delayed again

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We finally know who this 'Harry Potter' actor will be playing in 'Game of Thrones' season 7

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Warning: Minor Spoilers ahead for "Game of Thrones" season seven.

"Harry Potter" alumni Jim Broadbent is the newest castmember to join "Game of Thrones." When Entertainment Weekly announced his casting last year, all we knew was that the role would be "significant."

Though we wrote about our best guesses for the character back in August 2016, we know have confirmation of Broadbent's role in the upcoming season. During an interview with ScreenCrush's Erin Whitney, Broadbent said: "I'm a maester, an archmaester. I'm an old professor character."

Jim Broadbent at Arqiva British Academy Television Awards Stuart C. Wilson Getty

Broadbent also told ScreenCrush that he filmed scenes for five episodes. Since season seven will be shorter than previous installments, this means that Broadbent is set to appear in well over half of the season. 

This new information, about Broadbent playing an "archmaester" for most of the season (along with EW's reporting of his role being "significant") makes us more certain than ever: Broadbent is almost certainly playing Marwyn the Mage.

Marwyn is a book character Sam Tarly meets when he arrives in the Citadel. Since Sam conveniently arrived in the Citadel at the end of season six, we had a feeling Marwyn would be showing up soon.

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Marwyn, like Qyburn, is a maester known for exploring magic and rituals beyond the standard scope of healing. Upon meeting Sam in the books, he tells him that he knows about Daenerys and her dragons. Marwyn sets sail for Meereen not too long after, planning on meeting the Mother of Dragons himself. 

Marwyn is also referred to throughout the books before we meet him. The witch Mirri Maz Duur — the woman responsible for Khal Drogo's death back in season one/book one— actually met him and said he taught her the Common Tongue. 

Marywn also possesses a Glass Candle made entirely of obsidian — an object clearly tied to magic and possibly both dragons and the White Walkers and the Lord of Light Melisandre so fervently believes in.

We hope Marwyn's character will blow the lid on some seriously magical stuff in the coming season, and we can't wait to see Broadbent step into the role. 

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Why critics are in love with the spy show 'The Americans' — and you need to watch it

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"The Americans," which premieres its fifth season Tuesday night on FX, follows KGB spies living as a married American couple with kids in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., during the early 1980s. The show stars Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys as Elizabeth and Philip Jennings. 

Despite relatively low ratings, the FX drama — which premiered in 2013 — is universally loved by critics and remains on the air. In 2016, the show was nominated for four Emmys including best drama, best actor in a drama, and best actress in a drama. It's an underrated gem.

Last year, FX renewed the show for a fifth and sixth season, with the sixth being its last. (You can watch the first four seasons on Amazon Prime.)

Here are all the reasons you need to watch "The Americans," according to critics:

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It's based on a real-life Russian spy program.

In 2010, the FBI busted a Russian espionage ring, which resulted in the US kicking out 10 Russian spies who were living in the country under false identities. One couple had two sons who were unaware of their parents' true identities — they thought they were Canadian.  

 



One of the showrunners is a former CIA agent.

Showrunner and cocreator Joe Weisberg is a former CIA agent, having worked for the agency in the early '90s. Because of this, the CIA has to approve all of the scripts to ensure that the show doesn't reveal any classified information.

 



It follows a historical period that isn't often covered in movies and TV.

The front lines of the Cold War and the early '80s in particular are not saturated in film and television. It was a time rich in music, but not fashion.

"It's a subtle, complex portrait of a relationship etched into an engaging espionage thriller set in 1981."—The New York Times

 



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