Will Hollywood Forgive Felicity Huffman (and Lori Loughlin)?

Its Friday, and Im wondering if Ive ever written anything that needs to be redacted.

Greetings from Los Angeles, where we are pulling ourselves away from the Mueller report to understand Netflixs thinking on all things Felicity Huffman, examining the W.G.A. battle from a different angle, celebrating the demons of Bob Fosse, and processing the unique perspective of Egyptian-American comedian Ramy Youssef.

Whither Felicity?

After Felicity Huffman became enmeshed in the college-admissions cheating scandal, Netflix could have easily picked up her upcoming movie Otherhood, originally due out next Friday, and buried it somewhere deep in its catalogue (maybe somewhere between Yu-Gi-Oh! and Roger Cormans Death Race 2050). Instead, last week, the company simply pushed back the film to later this summer, and gave it a firm release date—August 2. The maneuvering around the film, helmed by Sex and the City executive producer Cindy Chupack, has provided an interesting glimpse into how Hollywood deals with the business ramifications of scandal.

According to a source, Netflixs decision to firm up a new date for the comedy, which co-stars Angela Bassett and Patricia Arquette, was made before Huffmans recent statement that she intends to plead guilty to charges that she paid $15,000 for a proctor to correct her daughters SAT. Huffmans decision to show contrition only bolsters her chances for a good, old-fashioned Hollywood redemption story. And, according to the crisis P.R. exec I spoke to, shes taking a page out of the playbook of one of the best: Martha Stewart. Meanwhile, Lori Loughlin is maintaining her innocence, and may be hurting her career as a result. “Felicity is setting herself up to be rehabilitated,” said the crisis vet. “Lori is digging in, claiming innocence and ruining her value down the road.”

After all, in the Trump era, whos going to remember the college cheating scandal at all come August 2—or the Mueller report for that matter? (I kid, I think.)

Click here for my full report.

Born out of Broadway

Stars Sam Rockwell and Michelle Williams joined the creative team behind Fosse/Verdon, FXs springtime dose of razzle-dazzle, to reveal many of the shows secrets Thursday evening in a conversation led by Vanity Fair editor in chief Radhika Jones. Many a backstage gem came of the talk, but heres our favorite: the shows genesis came when co-executive producer Lin-Manuel Miranda picked up Fosse, the biography written by his former Wesleyan classmate Sam Wasson, and tossed it to Hamilton director Tommy Kail. Rockwell also divulged how hard it is to play a character from history: “It is like having a second job when you do a real person. You have a dialect coach for the accent. Its almost like you had to compartmentalize.”

Read Paul Chis full story here.

Netflix and Chill

Worried about all the family time youre about to embark upon this weekend? Have no fear: Netflix is once again here to save you, with a slew of new content dropping on the service just in time for your Passover Seder. And what goes better with matzo-ball soup than Beyoncé, a buddy comedy featuring Gina Rodriguez, and a doc from Fab 5 Freddy on weed?

According to our critics, the surest thing to tune in to is Homecoming, Beyoncés documentary about her 2018 appearance at Coachella, and what it took to get there. Beyoncé is credited with writing, directing, and executive-producing the movie, which delves into the struggles she went through to get back in shape after a difficult pregnancy and a C-section. But as critic K. Austin Collins writes, even with all that access, Beyoncé remains somewhat unknowable: “Even as the artist brings us close—even as she deploys aesthetics of intimacy, with grainy images like something out of an 8-mm family archive and confessions that sound delivered to us personally, as if over a late-night call with a dear friend—we can only get so close.”

Read his full review here.

Someone Great, from Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, is also a fun distraction, with Rodriguez and co-stars Brittany Snow and DeWanda Wise serving up enough chemistry and female friendship to make up for a minimalist plot. Says critic Sonia Saraiya: “Someone Great isnt really a rom-com; its a last-day-of-summer movie, but one that will end with its characters forced to become grown-ups.”

Read her full review here.

Nestled between the first night of Passover and Easter Sunday is 4/20: the annual celebration of all things weed. Netflix is commemorating the day with the release of Grass Is Greener, a new documentary film from hip-hop legend Fab 5 Freddy. As Dan Adler reports, the doc explores the ways people of color have been disproportionately targeted by the Read More – Source