Don’t worry baby, style rebels and more – The Hollywood Reporter

Theater club

The Don’t worry honey gang

Like the film itself, a psychological thriller set in a Crazy menera utopia, the PR campaign for Don’t worry honey saw a web of cracks undermine a perfect facade. Late summer’s internet obsession consisted of a series of mysteries: was the original co-star Shia LaBeouf fired for director Olivia Wilde‘no assholes’, as Wilde said, or did the actor quit for ‘lack of rehearsal time’, as he claimed and provided evidence for? At what point did Wilde become romantically involved with LaBeouf’s replacement, Harry Styles? Was star Florence Pug, seen sashaying around the Venice party (Aperol spritz in hand) as her castmates suffered through the press before the premiere, playing hooky due to a scuffle with Wilde, or was she indeed conflicted? And, most baffling, did Styles coop a loogie on co-star Chris Pine’s lap during the screening, as social media sleuths claimed, or was Spitgate just a collective hallucination driven by an insatiable appetite for idiotic controversy? We may never know. (But at least that seems resolved; Pine called the allegations “ridiculous”.)

Chess club

The grandmasters who played the daring and shrewd gambits of the year

Activist investor Dan Loeb sensed Disney’s weakness and pounced, using just 0.4 percent of the company’s stock to secure a board seat for ally Carolyn Everson. Warner Bros. Discovery CFOGunnar Wiedenfels proved that he may be a nice guy, but he can handle anything – even bat girl — to implement boss David Zaslav’s cost cutting. After months of exhausting searching for an exec with the credentials and guts to run the recently acquired MGM, Amazon Studios head Jen Salke finally found her: Jen Salke. For power agents like CAA’s Kevin Huvane, BryanLourdandRichardLovett, what’s more satisfying than poaching a client? Poaching a rival agency. RIP ICM.

The Hellfire Club

The stylistic rebels who caught our attention by defiantly being themselves

Like the members of the club of the same name in Stranger things, these Hollywood stars spent 2022 embracing their eccentricities to blaze their own rebellious paths. The aptly named Mia Goth has become horror’s new “It” girl, appearing in Ti West’s back-to-back slashers X and Pearl. Hair Emma co-star Anya Taylor-Joy has made it to the A-list without shrugging off her otherworldliness. It actually turns out to be Jenna Ortega is Wednesday Addams in real life. SNL alum Julie Torres found a new spin on macabre comedy with the tragically unrenewed The creeps.Julia Fox rocks the Goth glamor look like no other and developed a speech cadence all her own. (Uncaa Jaaahms. )

In detention

They were accused of evil deeds, but we know it’s only a matter of time before they’re back

Until his palm made contact with Chris Rockthe face on Oscar night, Will Smith was a straight A student. Bill Murray was Teflon for decades before reports emerged of his inappropriate behavior at Aziz Ansari’s Being mortal — causing production to stop and spark complaints against Murray for past violations. Then there were the workplace issues: GMA3co-hosts Amy Robach and T. J. Holmes stay off the air while ABC investigates. Maybe they should have called it quits after revelations of CNN chief Jeff Zucker’s tryst with Allison Gollust – discovered during an inquest into the firing of ex-CNN anchor Chris Cuomo – led to their dismissal.

This story first appeared in the December 16 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.