The week in entertainment news: Scream VII departures, Matt Rife blowback

Catching up with The A.V. Club's top news stories from November 20-25

By The A.V. Club Bot  |  November 26, 2023 | 4:51pm
Aux Features Scream
The week in entertainment news: Scream VII departures, Matt Rife blowback
Introducing Endless Mode: A New Games & Anime Site from Paste
Steve Buscemi on Miracle Workers Photo: Warner Bros.

What’s going on with Matt Rife?

If you’d never heard the name Matt Rife before it suddenly seemed to be everywhere, you wouldn’t be alone. The 28-year-old comedian, who’d mostly been a presence on TikTok until a few days ago, achieved what any comic trying to break into the mainstream presumably dreams about: a Netflix special. Even if reviews were mixed, the special debuted at number two on Netflix’s global top 10 shows—but many have already turned on him. Read More

Jenna Ortega won’t be in Scream VII either

The Scream franchise has lost its other Carpenter sister. One day after production studio Spyglass fired lead actress Melissa Barrera for what they deemed to be “hate speech,” news broke that Jenna Ortega will also be exiting the franchise ahead of the upcoming Scream VII. Ortega and Barrera played sisters Tara and Sam respectively in the $169 million grossing film (per Box Office Mojo). Read More

For the first time in 20 years, Family Guy is leaving Fox’s Sunday lineup

A shockwave has just ripped through the world of broadcast television, and things will… never… be… the… same. In fact, you should check on your TV right now and make sure it hasn’t burst into flames at the shock of what has just happened. And while this all may seem absurdly over-the-top, we assure you that this is indeed a big deal: Fox has just released its new midseason schedule (after a real bummer of a regular fall season), and—for the first time in about 20 years—Family Guy will not be a part of the Animation Domination Sunday lineup. Instead, it will air on Wednesdays alongside The Masked Singer and Animal Control, two shows that are apparently still on. Read More

Colleen Ballinger is back, sans ukulele

Almost five months after introducing the term “toxic gossip train” to the world, Colleen Ballinger decided to drop her ukulele off at Manipulation Station and go the rest of the way on foot. In a new video posted to her YouTube channel, the former Miranda Sings actor and disgraced vlogger reemerged to apologize for both bad behavior in the past and her much-maligned first attempt at an apology. Read More

Melissa Barrera fired from Scream VII, producers call Israel comments “hate speech”

Melissa Barrera, one of the new stars of the rebooted Scream franchise, has reportedly been dropped from the series over some posts she made on social media about what’s happening in the Israel-Palestine conflict. According to The Hollywood Reporter, she supposedly wrote that “Gaza is currently being treated like a concentration camp” on her Instagram stories (which are automatically deleted eventually by the platform). THR says the post also added, “Cornering everyone together, with no where to go, no electricity no water … People have learnt nothing from our histories. And just like our histories, people are still silently watching it all happen. THIS IS GENOCIDE & ETHNIC CLEANSING.” Read More

Melissa Barrera makes first public statement since Scream VII firing

Scream franchise star Melissa Barrera—who is now, we suppose, former Scream franchise star Melissa Barrera, after Spyglass announced this week that it was firing her from the franchise over accusations of “hate speech”—has now made her first public statement about the whole situation. Read More

Jon Hamm worked with a nippleologist

Hollywood is full of weird, wonderful, and often under-appreciated jobs. There are foley artists who make props sound like sex and food stylists who turn regular old pork into delectable human flesh. Westworld had a fly wrangler and someone on Breaking Bad had to figure out how to make rock candy look like meth. But even among all those unsung heroes, Jon Hamm’s “nippleologist” might just take the cake. Read More

Miracle Workers has worked its final miracle for TBS

After four time-hopping seasons of costume changes and genre-smashing lunacy, Miracle Workers is no more. TBS has canceled the series, which concluded its fourth and final season, “End Times,” in August, with stars Daniel Radcliffe, Steve Buscemi, and Geraldine Viswanathan getting their Fury Roadon in a postnuclear apocalypse. Read More

Happy Thanksgiving, here’s Brian Cox’s favorite line from Succession

Brian Cox has shared his favorite line from Succession and it’s a pretty solid choice

Tim Burton just wants you to leave The Nightmare Before Christmas alone, OK?

Tim Burton knows not to mess with a good thing, at least when it comes to The Nightmare Before Christmas

 
Join the discussion...