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Piers Morgan Is ‘Disappointed' to See Beyoncé ‘Culturally Appropriate' Marilyn Monroe in Levi's Ad

Piers Morgan Is ‘Disappointed' to See Beyoncé ‘Culturally Appropriate' Marilyn Monroe in Levi's Ad

Yahoo16 hours ago
Piers Morgan has caused a stir online with a recent string of posts about Beyoncé, whom the British TV personality jokingly accused of 'cultural appropriation' in a Marilyn Monroe-esque Levi's photo shoot.
It all started with a Wednesday (Aug. 6) post on X, in which Morgan shared a photo of the pop superstar modeling Levi's denim and sporting bouncy blonde curls. 'Very disappointed to see Beyoncé culturally appropriate Marilyn Monroe in her new Levi's ad,' the media personality wrote.
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It wasn't long before people came to Bey's defense in the replies, lambasting Morgan for dissing the 35-time Grammy winner and misusing the term 'cultural appropriation,' as the late actress was a person and not a culture. Morgan, however, continued stirring the pot, sharing an old photo of himself with Bey and writing, 'I would say I can't believe anyone took my obvious Beyoncé joke post seriously … but I forgot the woke brigade have zero sense of humour.'
And in response to one commenter who said that the Destiny's Child alum is 'hotter' than the late Hollywood icon, Morgan said, 'I don't disagree.'
Billboard has reached out to Bey's rep for comment.
This is far from the first time Morgan has sparked discourse by making inflammatory remarks on his social media accounts, or on his show Uncensored. He's also not the only person who's had something to say about Bey's campaign with Levi's, with Megyn Kelly recently dissing it as 'artificial, fake, enhanced [and] trying too hard' while praising Sydney Sweeney's widely criticized American Eagle jeans commercials.
But while Kelly was being totally serious with her comments, Morgan has asserted that he was just joking in his post about Bey. In response to iconic singer Dionne Warwick commenting that he was 'getting involved in women's business again,' he wrote, 'Oh not you too, Dionne… it was a JOKE!'
That said, Morgan did double down on a controversial take. 'I think the whole concept of 'cultural appropriation' is bulls–t,' he added on Wednesday. 'What's wrong with celebrating another country's fashion, food etc?'
The back-and-forth comes about 10 months after the last notable time Morgan got himself in trouble with the BeyHive. In October, the British contrarian invited singer-songwriter Jaguar Wright onto Uncensored and aired her claims that Bey and Jay-Z were 'monsters' with 'hundreds of victims,' shortly after which the famous couple's lawyers denied the allegations and demanded that Morgan remove them from the episode.
The show host obliged, telling viewers at the time, 'There are legal limits on us, too … We apologize to Jay-Z and Beyoncé.'
Beyoncé has not commented on any of the drama surrounding her Levi's campaign, which has been ongoing since last year. She and the fashion brand recently released a new commercial showcasing the star trading in her horse for a motorcycle, something many fans believe was a hint that her next LP will be a rock album.
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Netflix just dropped a trailer for new murder-mystery movie with Helen Mirren and Pierce Brosnan — it looks like a must-watch crime caper
Netflix just dropped a trailer for new murder-mystery movie with Helen Mirren and Pierce Brosnan — it looks like a must-watch crime caper

Tom's Guide

timean hour ago

  • Tom's Guide

Netflix just dropped a trailer for new murder-mystery movie with Helen Mirren and Pierce Brosnan — it looks like a must-watch crime caper

Netflix is fast becoming the home for murder-mystery fans. Along with "Wake Up, Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery" and the (sadly canceled) comedy series "The Residence", the streaming service is bringing us the star-studded "The Thursday Murder Club" movie this summer. It's an adaptation that's been on my radar for the longest time, as British acting legends like Helen Mirren, Ben Kingsley, and many more are in frame. But, judging by the new "Thursday Murder Club" movie trailer that Netflix just dropped, Chris Columbus' cozy crime adaptation is one movie that genre fans will not want to miss. This trailer gives us a taste of the wit and comedic stylings, whilst also setting up the case and showing our renowned cast tackling the mystery at hand. Judging by this footage, it looks like screenplay writers Katy Brand and Suzanne Heathcote have preserved the novel's unique, cheeky, and distinctly British sensibility. To me, it looks lively, characterful, and just as fun as the source material. Excited? "The Thursday Murder Club" movie starts streaming exclusively on Netflix from Thursday, August 28. The movie's also being given a limited theatrical run in the UK, where it'll be showing in select theaters from Friday, August 22. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. Netflix has already released a brief synopsis of this exciting adaptation. It reads: ""The Thursday Murder Club" follows four irrepressible retirees - Elizabeth (Helen Mirren), Ron (Pierce Brosnan), Ibrahim (Ben Kingsley) and Joyce (Celia Imrie) - who spend their time solving cold case murders for fun. "When an unexplained death occurs on their own doorstep, their casual sleuthing takes a thrilling turn as they find themselves with a real whodunit on their hands." If you're new to the series, "The Thursday Murder Club" is a series of New York Times bestselling novels penned by British broadcaster, TV star, and author Richard Osman. The "Thursday Murder Club" movie is, unsurprisingly, based on the first book in the series, which sees the Cooper's Chase retirement village quartet investigating their first real case. The victim is a local developer who is found dead with a mysterious photograph left beside the body. If you want to read the book before the film hits our screens, you can find it at Amazon or Barnes & Noble now. If you've been following the news (or you've watched the trailer), you'll know that "The Thursday Murder Club" movie boasts a legendary ensemble cast. Along with the main stars, the movie also features David Tennant, Richard E. Grant, Tom Ellis, Naomi Ackie, Daniel Mays, Henry Lloyd-Hughes, Jonathan Pryce, Paul Freeman, Geoff Bell, and Ingrid Oliver. Director Chris Columbus told Netflix that it is "the finest cast I've worked with since ["Harry] Potter", adding: "They're just so incredibly well-prepared, and it's because they do everything. They do theater, they do television, they do film, and they've developed those sorts of muscles." With praise like that, I definitely can't wait to see how this all-star cast brings Osman's characters to life when the movie drops at the end of the month. Need something to watch while you wait for "The Thursday Murder Club" movie to arrive? Be sure to check out our round-up of the best movies on Netflix for tons more streaming recommendations fit for your next movie night. Follow Tom's Guide on Google News to get our up-to-date news, how-tos, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button.

‘Outlander: Blood of My Blood' lacks the drama and tension of its predecessor
‘Outlander: Blood of My Blood' lacks the drama and tension of its predecessor

Los Angeles Times

timean hour ago

  • Los Angeles Times

‘Outlander: Blood of My Blood' lacks the drama and tension of its predecessor

Has there ever been a love as true, wild and literally epic as that of 'Outlander's' Claire Beauchamp (Caitríona Balfe) and Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan)? Made possible by a circle of standing stones (and the imagination of Diana Gabaldon, who wrote the novels on which the series is based), the all-but-instant passion of a British time-traveling former WWII nurse and a young Scottish Highlander has survived war, torture, rape, shipwreck and innumerable other perils encountered separately and together on four continents. So it's not surprising that, as 'Outlander' approaches its eighth and final season, there would be interest in the forces that shaped such a love. (Especially when it involves expanding what has been Starz's signature show for more than a decade.) This is just what 'Outlander: Blood of My Blood' aims to do by chronicling the courtship and marriages of Jamie's parents — Brian Fraser (Jamie Roy) and Ellen MacKenzie (Harriet Slater) — and Claire's — Julia (Hermione Corfield) and Henry Beauchamp (Jeremy Irvine). Casting directors Simone Pereira Hind and Suzanne Smith deserve praise for finding Roy and Corfield, fine actors who also bear an uncanny resemblance to their fictional children. There's plenty to love about 'Blood of My Blood,' especially a return to the 18th century Highlands, with tartans, castles and craggy tors aplenty. There's the beloved Castle Leoch, complete with a young Mrs. Fitz (Sally Messham) and Ned Gowan (Conor MacNeill), casting calm on troubled waters after the death of Jamie's grandfather, 'Red Jacob' MacKenzie (Peter Mullan), has left a leadership vacuum. The bright and spirited Ellen was his favored child, but as a woman, she cannot be a laird. That leaves her brothers, Colum (Seamus McLean Ross) and Dougal (Sam Retford), to fight each other, and any likely comer, while plotting an advantageous marriage for Ellen. Alas for them, Ellen locks eyes with Brian Fraser, bastard son of sworn enemy Simon Fraser (Tony Curran), at the clan gathering and the rest is, or will be, history. Claire's parents, though never divided by warring clans, have just as romantic a backstory. As a shell-shocked WWI soldier, Henry wrote from the trenches a letter decrying the war's brutality; working in the censor's office, Julia read it and responded. A meeting of minds led to love, marriage and Claire (conveniently visiting her archaeologist uncle when the couple was traveling to the Highlands). So another story of unlikely desire strengthened by hardship (including Henry's PTSD) and peril (including dramatic separation). Spoiler alert: Claire's parents did not die in a car crash as she, and we, were led to believe in 'Outlander.' On a trip through the Highlands that echoes the one Claire took with then-husband Frank (Tobias Menzies), Julia and Henry do have an accident, but they survive uninjured. Searching for a way back to their inn, they discover, you guessed it, ye olde Craigh na Dun. And those darn stones are at it again, claiming first Julia and then Henry. It is an obvious and laughable twist, but what's the point of being in the 'Outlander' universe without a little time travel. And the notion that Claire and Jamie's instant enduring connection might have its roots in something more mysterious than hormones is intriguing. By the sixth and seventh season of 'Outlander,' so many people had passed, and repassed, through those stones (and their international counterparts) that Craigh na Dun had begun to feel less like a mystical portal and more like a metro station. Next stop: 1714. Because they do not pass together, Julia and Henry wind up in the same year but in very different circumstances. Julia is quickly abducted by a tenant family who gives her to Simon in payment of a debt with absolutely no objection from anyone, including Brian Fraser and his mother, Davina (Sara Vickers). (Julia's posh British accent and very strange clothing, never mind her insistence that she's already married, likewise raise no questions.) Henry, meanwhile, winds up accidentally impressing clan leader Isaac Grant (Brian McCardie) enough to become his bladier (legal counsel); his duties will come to include arranging the marriage of Grant's son Malcolm (Jhon Lumsden) to Ellen. So you can see where this is going — as Henry and Julia struggle to find each other, each play a part in bringing Jamie's parents together. Those who have watched 'Outlander' will know the outcome and general outlines of Ellen and Brian's forbidden love, just as they know who will emerge as head of the clan. Fortunately, Slater's Ellen is a highly engaging heroine; Roy makes Brian a sympathetic swain; and meeting earlier versions of well-known characters, including Murtagh (Rory Alexander) and Ellen's sister Jocasta (Sadhbh Malin), is great fun. One can only hope that Ellen will eventually see in Julia a mirror of her own situation — both women are trapped by male domination — and help a girl out. But this is a series, not a film, so we will have to wait and see. Juggling two main love stories and multiple time periods (Red Jacob makes several appearances in flashbacks) is wildly ambitious. Still it's a bit strange that in the six episodes made available to critics, the Beauchamps, whose story is far more mysterious ('Blood of My Blood' is not based on any of Gabaldon's novels), wind up with the short end of the dramatic stick. With Ellen positioned as the spiky, stubborn, active lead, Julia is condemned to a softer, more submissive role — in letters that one can only hope Claire will somehow find in the final season of 'Outlander,' she chronicles her anguish and confusion, which is not as effective as showing them. As Henry, Irvine delivers a nuanced performance as a man deeply affected by war, but he is not terribly creative, or effective, in his search for Julia. More important, neither she nor Henry are able to make much use of the fact they are time travelers. Neither attempts to learn more about the standing stones or figure out how they can get back to their own time — Julia has no way of knowing that Henry is not still in the 20th century — never mind trying to situate themselves in history in a way that might benefit their plight. (Hint: a major Jacobite rebellion is a few months away.) And that is the show's biggest failing. 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Simon Fraser is lecherous and mean-spirited, but he's no Black Jack Randall. The Jacobites are mentioned, but most of the political machinations involve interclan jockeying. Instead we are left with Henry attempting to install a kinder, gentler way of taxing the peasantry; Julia scheming to keep her pregnancy safe; and Ellen and Brian preparing to risk it all for love. Mercifully, we are at least back in Scotland, a big rebellion is on its way and if 'Outlander' is any gauge, another time traveler should be showing up sometime very soon.

This seriously underrated mid-2000s sci-fi comedy just dropped on Hulu — I feel so high school
This seriously underrated mid-2000s sci-fi comedy just dropped on Hulu — I feel so high school

Tom's Guide

time4 hours ago

  • Tom's Guide

This seriously underrated mid-2000s sci-fi comedy just dropped on Hulu — I feel so high school

It's not often that a movie hits me with a huge blast of nostalgia. Don't get me wrong — I'll gladly revisit a beloved movie from my past, but my first reaction rarely is to be transported back in time to a particular era of my life. When I saw "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" had been added to Hulu this month, though, I couldn't help but be transported to when I was a freshman in high school. Full disclosure: This movie came out in April 2005, a few months before I started my first year of high school. But I associate it with rekindling a love of sci-fi and fantasy books that is core to the high school nerd I was. Now, if you just look at Rotten Tomatoes to judge whether or not to see this movie, you'd probably skip over "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." This sci-fi comedy wasn't universally well-received at the time, but I think it was unfairly maligned for a multitude of reasons. First, let's just get this out of the way: If you don't like British humor, you won't like this movie. Similarly, if you found that Douglas Adams' books weren't for you, then this movie isn't magically going to fix that. But if you like dry British humor or find absurdist comedies to be your thing, then there's something for you in this movie. And the movie is definitely absurd. The film starts with a David Attenborough-esque nature documentary narrated by Stephen Fry that transforms into a two-minute-long musical number sung by dolphins, which it turns out are the most intelligent creatures on the planet Earth, according to Fry's narration. Again, if you don't find that amusing, or if it doesn't at the very least intrigue you, then this movie probably won't be for you. The same goes for those who don't find it amusing that Earth could be demolished by a race of aliens to make room for an intergalactic highway bypass. If that's not for you, you probably won't click with this movie. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. One month free trial! Try Hulu free for 30 days and check out movies like "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" at no cost. But if you find it funny that doors can be programmed to sigh when they open and close, that a robot who is programmed to be more human turns out to be depressed, or that one of the best pieces of travel advice for hitchhiking across the galaxy is to always remember to bring your towel, then this movie is for you. Speaking of that aforementioned robot, he's voiced by Alan Rickman, and he's the best part of what's still arguably a loaded cast, and certainly was considered a loaded cast at the time back in 2005. There's Martin Freeman as Arthur Dent, an Earthling who is currently fighting to keep his house from being destroyed to make way for a terrestrial bypass. Mos Def co-stars as Ford Prefect, Arthur's friend who turns out to be an alien who works as a travel writer, and gets Arthur a ride off Earth when the Vogons come to demolish the whole planet for a bypass. They ultimately hitch a ride on the ship of Zaphod Beeblebrox, played by Sam Rockwell. He's the newly elected president of the Galaxy, and it turns out his ship is a stolen ship. He's aided by Tricia "Trillian" McMillan, an Earth woman portrayed by Zooey Deschanel, and Marvin, our aforementioned clinically depressed robot. There are more names besides. In addition to these actors, you also have acclaimed performers John Malkovich, Bill Nighy and Helen Mirren all taking roles in the movie. But the star of this sci-fi comedy is undeniably Rickman's morose robot with a massive head, whose personality is a prototype made to simulate a human personality. I'd watch a movie just featuring him, and thankfully, we do get plenty of moments with Marvin throughout the film's 109 minutes. So if you love sci-fi, comedy, or Alan Rickman, then "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" needs to be next on your watchlist. Go stream it now on Hulu. Malcolm has been with Tom's Guide since 2022, and has been covering the latest in streaming shows and movies since 2023. He's not one to shy away from a hot take, including that "John Wick" is one of the four greatest films ever made. Here's what he's been watching lately: Follow Tom's Guide on Google News to get our up-to-date news, how-tos, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button.

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