REESE WITHERSPOON REVEALS THAT SHE DIDN’T WANT TO DO SEX SCENE WITH MARK WAHLBERG IN ‘FEAR:’ In a cover story for Harper’s Bazaar released on Wednesday (July 12th), Reese Witherspoon shared that she didn’t want to do the roller coaster sex scene with Mark Wahlberg in the movie Fear, but she “didn’t have control” at the time. The Sweet Home Alabama actress said, “It wasn't explicit in the script that that's what was going to happen, so that was something that I think the director James Foley thought of on his own and then asked me on set if I would do it, and I said no. It wasn't a particularly great experience.” Witherspoon added that this experience when she was 19 years old was “formative” for her in that it made her “want to be an agent for change and someone who maybe can be in a better leadership position to tell stories from a female perspective instead of from the male gaze.” She now has her own production company called Hello Sunshine.
DIVERSITY EQUITY AND INCLUSION LEADERS ARE LEAVING HOLLYWOOD: According to The Los Angeles Times, DEI leaders are leaving Hollywood in droves. The outlet reports that four diversity chiefs—all Black women—at Disney, Netflix, Warner Bros., and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences either left their positions or were fired within a 10-day period in June. In response to this, Vic Bulluck, the founding executive director of the NAACP Hollywood bureau, told the outlet, “I wake up every day trying not to be a cynic, but this is frightening. Hollywood seems to be sending a message that these programs that were designed to give more access to African Americans are no longer needed.” The outlet reports that studios made an effort to support “diversity-centered initiatives” following the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 but are now seemingly singing a different tune.
CAST MEMBERS ON ‘ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK’ SAY THEY WERE NOT FAIRLY COMPENSATED: In a new article for The New Yorker published on Wednesday (July 12th), the day before the SAG-AFTRA strike was announced, supporting cast members from the hit Netflix show Orange is the New Black spoke about how little they were paid. Diane Guerrero (Maritza Ramos), Emma Myles (Leanne Taylor), Matt McGorry (John Bennett), and Lea DeLaria (Big Boo) all held other jobs while working on the streaming series. “As the seasons progressed, we started to get more disgruntled about money, mostly because of how incredibly popular the show was. And then it felt, like, Well, my friends on network shows are incredibly wealthy,” one actor who chose to remain anonymous said. Meanwhile, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos bragged that OITNB had a bigger audience than Game of Thrones. “I remember all of us thinking, ‘Give us the money!’ But we were always saying, ‘Give us the money,'” DeLaria said. “We were keenly aware that we weren’t being paid.”
THE HOLLYWOOD SIGN TURNS 100: Deadline reports that the iconic Hollywood sign in Los Angeles, California, turned 100 on Thursday (July 13th). The sign was originally constructed as “Hollywoodland” in hopes of luring real estate investors to the area in 1923.
