Last summer, the weirdest “affair” story broke. Ariana Grande had left her then-husband for her Wicked costar Ethan Slater, who was also married. Ethan and his wife Lilly Jay had welcomed a son not even one year before Ariana put a wrecking ball through their marriage. Not only did Ethan and Ariana’s affair blow up both of their marriages, Ariana then tried to PR her way out of the image-damaging drama, only for Lilly to (accidentally) go on the record, blasting Ariana in an interview with Page Six. We covered all of that more – check through our Ethan Slater archives for all of the insanity. Well, Ethan and Ari have been together ever since, even as Ethan tried to negotiate a quiet divorce from Lilly. It’s finally come through, more than a year later. Their divorce was just finalized.

Ethan Slater and Lilly Jay are finally divorced, because they’ve come to a settlement … TMZ has learned.

According to new court docs, obtained by TMZ, the Broadway star and his high school sweetheart have settled their divorce and a judge has signed off as of Thursday.

The terms of the settlement are sealed, as all divorces are in NY state.

Ethan and Lilly, who grew up together in Maryland, first began dating in 2012 … later relocating to New York City in 2014 — where ES pursued his theater dream. In fact, Lilly walked the 2018 Tony Awards red carpet with Ethan — where he was nominated for his work as SpongeBob SquarePants in the musical adaptation of the Nickelodeon cartoon.

The longtime loves were married that same year … welcoming their first child together, a son, 4 years later in 2022. However, Ethan and Lilly’s storybook romance came to an end a year later in July 2023, when Ethan filed for divorce.

[From TMZ]

If I was in Lilly’s situation, I would have made him pay through the nose. I would have aimed for Ariana’s money too, I don’t care. What was always crazy about it is that it’s not like Ariana keeps her boyfriends or husbands around for very long. I’m sort of shocked that she’s still with Ethan, although they’re probably trying to stick together through Wicked’s promotion. Ethan wrecked his marriage for what? A couple of years as Ari’s little buddy. What a mess. Oh well, I’m glad Lilly is rid of him. I hope she has an amazing life.

Top 8 stories about Ariana’s Grande’s messy affair with Ethan Slater

Ariana Grande and her Wicked costar Ethan Slater blew up both their marriages to have an affair! Ariana was even friends with Ethan’s wife and he has a new baby at home. Sign up for our mailing list to get the top 8 stories about this. I send one email a day on weekdays.

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Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Avalon Red, Instagram.

Here are some photos of Justin Timberlake in Sag Harbor on Friday. He had a court appearance, and at the last minute, Justin accepted a plea deal. Back in June, Justin was arrested and jailed overnight for driving while intoxicated. The arresting officer had ample evidence that Timberlake was sh-tfaced, and Justin is very lucky that he didn’t hurt or kill someone while he was driving under the influence. Instead of immediately accepting responsibility, Justin and his local lawyer spent months making asses out of themselves and trying to convince everyone that Justin wasn’t drunk, etc. That all came crashing down on Friday. Apparently, Justin put the best acting performance of his life in court:

The singer Justin Timberlake pleaded guilty on Friday to driving while impaired, resolving a case that began with his June arrest on drunken-driving charges in the Hamptons. As part of his plea, Mr. Timberlake agreed to pay a $500 fine and serve 25 hours of community service for a charity of his choosing. He also agreed to a 90-day suspension of his driver’s license in New York.

The singer, who was originally charged with the more serious crime of driving while intoxicated, entered the plea during an appearance at a 30-seat courthouse in the village of Sag Harbor. He wore a black cardigan and khaki slacks, with a double strand of pearls peeking out from beneath a dark T-shirt.

During the hearing, Mr. Timberlake looked on with his hands folded in front of him. His original plea agreement stipulated that he would make a public safety announcement discouraging drinking and driving. Justice Carl Irace, the village court judge overseeing the case, said on Friday that it would be more meaningful for the singer to commit himself to “a period of reflection and contemplation” through community service.

Mr. Timberlake agreed, and acknowledged that he had erred in driving rather than calling a taxi or getting a ride from a friend.

“It was a clear misjudgment,” he said. Justice Irace, satisfied with Mr. Timberlake’s contrition, commended him for his sincerity. The judge also asked about drug and alcohol counseling for the singer, calling its absence from the plea deal “concerning,” but did not impose it.

Speaking in front of a throng of reporters and cameras outside Sag Harbor Police Headquarters after the hearing, Mr. Timberlake urged people following the case to learn from his mistake.

“Many of you have probably been covering me for a lot of my life, and as you may know, I try to hold myself to a very high standard, for myself, and this was not that,” he said.

[From The NY Times]

“The judge also asked about drug and alcohol counseling for the singer, calling its absence from the plea deal ‘concerning,’ but did not impose it.” When Justin was arrested, I wondered if his giant ego would allow him to show some kind of humility or contrition, and whether he would do some kind of rehab program, something to show the court that he was taking this seriously. Instead, he pushed stories about how he wasn’t drunk and that the cop was evil for arresting drunk drivers. Justin was so awful, he had ACAB Nation saying “actually, it’s good when cops arrest drunk drivers.” Anyway, I also wish the court had imposed some kind of counseling or something, but whatever. At least he pleaded out and he better do that community service.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Backgrid.

Jack Antonoff admitted to using earplugs for Katy Perry’s VMA performance, but he explains that he uses earplugs all the time. [Just Jared]
Shannon Sharpe “accidentally” live-streamed himself having sex with a woman named Michelle. Social media is still making jokes. [LaineyGossip]
Spotlight on model Paul Sturm. [Socialite Life]
A rave review of FX’s English Teacher. [Pajiba]
Halsey channeled Elizabeth Hurley. [Go Fug Yourself]
New trailer for Dragula Season 666. [OMG Blog]
Not a fan of Jacob Elordi’s facial hair. [RCFA]
Niecy Nash looked the same when she was a kid! [Seriously OMG]
Love After Lockup update on True. [Starcasm]
What to know about the Boeing strike. [Hollywood Life]
These stories about “when did you know you married the wrong person” are heartbreaking and make me grateful to be a single cat lady. [Buzzfeed]

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Last December, the Hollywood Reporter decided to bizarrely go Full Deranger. First, THR included the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in the magazine’s “winners and losers of the year” listicle. The Sussexes were named as two of the losers of the year, with the blurb including this: “After a whiny Netflix documentary, a whiny biography (Spare — even the title is a pouty gripe) and an inert podcast, the Harry and Meghan brand swelled into a sanctimonious bubble just begging to be popped — and South Park was the pin.” Again, this was for 2023 – their successful Netflix docuseries aired in 2022, as did Meghan’s Archetypes. Then, just a few weeks later, THR did another larger feature for the “Hollywood Yearbook,” where THR handed out superlatives to various celebrities. Harry and Meghan’s superlative was “Least Private Privacy Advocates.” It’s clear that THR feels comfortable following the lead of the British media, but even this latest THR piece shocked me. It really reads like a Daily Mail item circa 2019. The headline: “Why Hollywood Keeps Quitting on Harry and Meghan.”

Looks like Harry and Meghan have done it again — they’ve chewed up yet another American adviser.

Josh Kettler, the Santa Barbara-based consultant who’d been serving as chief of staff to the Duke and Duchess, reportedly resigned in August — after just three months on the job — becoming the latest member of the ever-expanding “Sussex Survivors Club,” as some former employees have taken to calling themselves. Before Kettler, there was Toya Holness, who was their global press secretary until 2022, and Christine Weil Schirmer, the onetime Pinterest communications director who quit as Harry and Meghan’s PR head in 2021. Samantha Cohen, Markle’s top aide and private secretary, departed the same year.

Earlier, there was Keleigh Thomas Morgan, a Sunshine Sachs partner who started repping Meghan when she was still a commoner (well, a TV star on Suits), adding Harry to her client roster when they became engaged and then helping them set up their own internal comms operation when the couple moved to California.

(Sources tell Rambling Reporter that Morgan stopped repping them around 2020, because the Sussexes stopped paying Sunshine Sachs for its services, though the PR firm denies that was the case.) Other members of the Survivors Club include Catherine St-Laurent, who lasted a year as head of the Sussexes’ charity Archewell; Archewell COO Mandana Dayani; content chief Ben Browning (who got Harry and Meghan’s documentary on Netflix before bolting for FilmNation); and marketing chief Fara Taylor.

Why’d they all leave? What explains the churn? “Everyone’s terrified of Meghan,” claims a source close to the couple. “She belittles people, she doesn’t take advice. They’re both poor decision-makers, they change their minds frequently. Harry is a very, very charming person — no airs at all — but he’s very much an enabler. And she’s just terrible.”

In 2018 Markle’s treatment of two royal aides prompted Buckingham Palace to investigate the then-princess for “bullying behavior.” Though the results of the inquiry were never released, Markle denounced the effort as a “calculated smear campaign.” But some of the couple’s stateside staff-members also reserve special bile for Markle, whose reported penchant for noisy tantrums and angry 5 a.m. emails has earned her the in-house moniker ‘Duchess Difficult.’ “She’s absolutely relentless,” says one source. “She marches around like a dictator in high heels, fuming and barking orders. I’ve watched her reduce grown men to tears.”

[From THR]

LMAO: “She marches around like a dictator in high heels, fuming and barking orders. I’ve watched her reduce grown men to tears.” First of all, I literally cannot imagine Meghan doing that whatsoever, it’s simply not her personality or vibe. Second of all, I would actually pay money to watch Meghan reduce a grown man to tears. What did she say to the guy? “Kindly take your finger out of my face?” SOB! SHE IS SO MEAN! Anyway, the appearance of the “Duchess Difficult” moniker and the regurgitation of 2018-era smears should tell you all you need to know about the sourcing for this piece.

I’d also like to point out that Jason Kettler’s exit seemed to leak out to the British papers very, very quickly, and now the trade papers are picking it up one month later, with a very anti-Sussex slant? It sounds like sour grapes from Jason Kettler, who probably got let go from his position as Harry’s chief of staff for good reason, then proceeded to make an ass out of himself by burning his former employer to anyone who would listen. All I know is that sh-t reeks of unprofessionalism and it’s not coming from Harry and Meghan.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.

On Thursday, Prince William attended the Sovereign’s Parade at the Royal Air Force College. He obviously stepped in for his father, although I do not know if the switch was always planned that way or if Charles canceled at the last minute. William certainly didn’t look like he’d been planning to do this event – he looked like he crawled out of a bottle and put on an Air Force dress uniform without showering. His posture is awful and he’s honestly lost an alarming amount of weight over the course of the year.

Of course, no one is talking about any of that. Instead, they’re talking about his creepy beard. Kensington Palace is doing the most to encourage reporters/supporters to say that the “rugged” beard is making “royal fans weak in the knees.” It’s like we’re watching the royal propaganda campaign unfold in real time and absolutely no royal reporter will mention how creepy it is that William feels the need to copy his brother’s facial hair.

At this Royal Air Force event, William’s aunt, Lady Sarah McCorquodale, also turned up. Rebecca English tweeted that Lady Sarah “heard he was in the area and wanted to support him.” Yeah, more like William is salty that the Spencer family has shown so much love and support for Harry this year, so William is making a point of cozying up to them too.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

All week, the British media has been freaking out over the Princess of Wales’s “cancer free” video, which was filmed to look like a commercial for douche. I think the baseline reaction across the board was that the video was cringe, awkward and poorly conceived. What’s taken the criticism next-level is that Buckingham Palace seems to be quite upset about it too, and King Charles and Queen Camilla think the whole thing is unbecoming and tacky. Throughout all of the negative commentary, the Duchess of Sussex has been referenced repeatedly. You would think that Meghan makes a regular habit of creating bizarre videos where she walks through fields whilst her voiceover describes her medical issues. Meghan does not. During Meghan’s medical issues – her miscarriage, her suicidal ideation – Meghan spoke and wrote about the issues respectfully and movingly and never turned those issues into an cringefest douche commercial. Well, in the Mail’s latest Palace Confidential episode, they’re once again crying about Kate’s dumb video and comparing Kate to Meghan.

The Princess of Wales’ slick video announcing she has finished chemotherapy treatment has left some in royal circles worried that she is echoing Meghan Markle, according to the Mail’s Richard Eden. Speaking on Palace Confidential, Mail+’s weekly talk show, Richard said insiders feel that the three-minute clip showing Kate with Prince William and their children in the countryside is ‘the sort of thing that Meghan would have loved to do.’

They do not want Catherine to ‘turn into’ Meghan, he added. Richard also said the clip left him feeling ‘uneasy’, adding that it appeared to be an attempt to create a ‘Hollywood trailer’.

Sitting alongside the Mail’s Royal Editor Rebecca English, he said: ‘Lots of people have said to me, “Oh you know it’s just the sort of thing that Meghan would have loved to do, obviously being an actress and we don’t want Catherine to turn into Meghan.”

Richard added of this week’s video: ‘The royal family should be different. They should be dignified, not chasing this. Yes, it’s the way that Catherine might have wanted to tell her story, but she’s surrounded by advisers. And she’s got people saying, “we want to get loads of hits on Youtube or whatever, and I think the Royal Family should be above that. They don’t need to be the Kardashians.’

Rebecca English feels the Royal Family’s use of video and social media has improved, but warned that content still needs to be authentic. She added: ‘They are getting more professional and upping their game but I do see that it needs to be authentic as well. I think it’s one of these things that needs to be applied slightly carefully.’

[From The Daily Mail]

“Oh you know it’s just the sort of thing that Meghan would have loved to do.” Trust me when I say that Meghan would not have loved to make a weird video announcement that she ended chemo. Beyond the issue of Meghan living rent-free in all of these people’s heads, the whole thing is that Meghan and Harry produced their docuseries where they told their side of the story, and they used private footage which they shot themselves. Years later, Kate hired a commercial director to COPY the Sussexes and try to manipulate the public into believing that her marriage is happy and healthy.

This is actually something I’m stuck on too: “Yes, it’s the way that Catherine might have wanted to tell her story, but she’s surrounded by advisers.” I want to know the inside story of how the video came to be. Was it really just Kate hiring Will Warr on her own initiative and deciding to film this in Norfolk over the summer? Or were there meetings where the clownshow advisors and the senior staff signed off on all of this?

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Will Warr/KP.

The first time I really paid any attention to Caitlin Clark, it was during the NCAA championship game for women’s basketball, and there was a pop-culture “incident” between Clark and Angel Reese during the game. The incident involved two highly competitive college athletes on different sides, one white and one black, making the exact same “you can’t see me” gesture, yet only one of them was called “classless” and “ghetto.” That actually became a defining moment for both Angel and Caitlin and set up their narratives after their college careers.

Caitlin turned pro after she graduated this year, and after a middling start on the WNBA’s Indiana Fever (she wasn’t picked for the Olympic team), she’s actually doing really well right now. I’ve actually never seen anything like the hype around Clark – white people go absolutely feral for her, and Clark is credited with bringing lots of new fans to women’s basketball. Clark has quickly become a cipher for white supremacists, often being propped up as “the good one” compared to the rest of the WNBA, most of whom are women of color. There were widespread rumors that Clark and the people close to her were politically conservative, if not outright MAGA. And then something happened this week: Caitlin Clark liked Taylor Swift’s Instagram endorsement of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. Suddenly, white people were very disappointed in their perfect white angel:

Them folks in Caitlin Clark’s IG comments withdrawing their support for her cuz she liked Taylor Swift’s post endorsing Kamala. pic.twitter.com/HzItUSyHEC

— Kevín (@KevOnStage) September 12, 2024

Caitlin was asked about liking the Instagram – which is still there, she didn’t “unlike” it or claim that her finger slipped – during a Fever presser on Wednesday:

WNBA rookie standout Caitlin Clark is speaking up about her decision to like Taylor Swift’s Instagram endorsement of Kamala Harris.

“I have this amazing platform, so I think the biggest thing would be just encourage people to register to vote,” Clark, 22, said to reporters during her media availability on Wednesday, Sept. 11, a day after Swift posted her backing of Harris on the social media platform.

The Indiana Fever rookie added, “That’s the biggest thing I can do with the platform that I have, and that’s the same thing Taylor [Swift] did.”

While Clark stopped short of offering her own endorsement, she emphasized the importance of voters’ rights. “Continue to educate yourself on the candidates that we have,” she said, “The policies that they’re supporting — I think that’s the biggest thing you can do. And that’s what I would recommend to every single person that has the opportunity [to vote] in our country.”

Though she didn’t officially endorse either presidential candidate, Clark is now courting controversy from followers on her Instagram account, many of whom have criticized the WNBA star for dipping her toe into political waters.

[From People]

I mean… I’m actually really proud of her for not backing down or making excuses. She’s treating this like: it is what is, you can read whatever you want into it. She’s not “courting controversy” by advocating for voter education and getting out to vote. But sure, it absolutely looks like she’s quietly supporting the Harris-Walz ticket. Good for her! I wonder if all of those new Clark-centered WNBA fans are going to leave in droves.

PS… Even before all of this, you know who was one of Caitlin Clark’s biggest fans? LeBron. He’s been hyping the sh-t out of her for a while.

CAITLIN CLARK!!!!! HI HATERS

— LeBron James (@KingJames) August 31, 2024

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

Donald Trump’s mangy team has spent the past two days pushing various stories about how he thinks he won Tuesday night’s debate. Trump doesn’t believe that, but it gives his supporters something to cling to and cry about, that everyone would see that Trump “won” if not for those mean ABC moderators, if not for the mainstream media, if not for this or that. Trump knows that he lost, which is why he’s now saying that he will not participate in another debate.

Donald Trump will not debate Kamala Harris again, the former president said Thursday.

“THERE WILL BE NO THIRD DEBATE!,” Trump wrote in all caps on Truth Social, referencing the first as his June debate with President Joe Biden and the second as his debate with Harris on Tuesday.

Harris’ campaign, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment, had challenged Trump to an additional debate immediately following their showdown earlier this week, and Fox News offered to host it.

“We owe it to the voters to have another debate,” Harris said Thursday at a rally in North Carolina minutes after Trump’s announcement.

But Trump on Wednesday told “Fox & Friends” he “probably” would not agree to another debate with the network and on Thursday confirmed he would not debate the vice president again at all, citing what he characterized as a decisive victory in a contest widely viewed as having gone favorably for Harris.

“When a prizefighter loses a fight, the first words out of his mouth are, “I WANT A REMATCH,”” Trump wrote Thursday.

[From Politico]

Trump was also in Arizona yesterday (he thought he was in Pennsylvania) and he declared in the middle of his rally that there would not be another debate. The Harris campaign keeps pressing through, and a few outlets have put together offers to host. Meanwhile, Trump is now flying around with that conspiracist lunatic Laura Loomer, and people think they’re banging?

Trump announces he is refusing to debate Vice President Harris again after he overwhelmingly lost the first one pic.twitter.com/DRATbzt4lo

— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) September 12, 2024

This is why Trump is hanging out with Laura Loomer. Watch them with their hands all over each other at Mar-a-Lago. Note: He’s married. pic.twitter.com/GKdSMjDnvD

— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) September 12, 2024

Left: Top Trump advocate Laura Loomer saying “someone” is going to shoot and kill immigrants and she’s “not going to care” when it happens

Right: Trump recently praising Laura Loomer, calling her “terrific” and “special” pic.twitter.com/B32Xc6VgzU

— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) March 13, 2024

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.

As we’ve discussed throughout the week, the British media’s reaction to Prince William and Kate’s “cancer free” video has been critical and skeptical. Kate’s message about the end of her chemotherapy was accepted at face value, but the video broke something in even the most sugary of royalists. The Mail, the Evening Standard, the Guardian and more have all run negative commentary pieces about the video feeling cringey, cliched and gruesome. The press is also worried that this will become Will and Kate’s new normal. Well, I’m ashamed to admit that it didn’t occur to me that this criticism and skepticism was being authorized by Buckingham Palace. I clocked the fact that Buckingham Palace or “sources close to the king” had not spoken off the record, positively or negatively, about the video. But it didn’t occur to me that Team Charles and Team Camilla were quietly letting the Keens twist in the wind all week. Of course, Charles and Camilla couldn’t help but sign their work in the end. From Richard Eden’s latest Daily Mail column:

Everyone close to the Royal Family is delighted that the Princess of Wales has completed her chemotherapy treatment and hopeful that she remains in remission from an unnamed form of cancer. But the super-slick video that Kensington Palace released on Monday to broadcast the welcome update on her health has divided opinion among courtiers – and provoked scathing backlash from some friends of King Charles and Queen Camilla.

Their Majesties haven’t yet commented on the extraordinary three-minute film – made by Will Warr, who earns most of his money from shooting advertising campaigns for companies including supermarket giant Tesco and delivery service Uber Eats…But the highly-stylised video certainly laid bare how radically different Prince William and Catherine’s approach to communications has become from the more traditional methods favoured by the King and Queen, and Queen Elizabeth before them.

Notably, while Catherine’s parents, Michael and Carole Middleton, are shown playing cards with their grandchildren at what appears to be Anmer Hall, the Prince and Princess’s home on the King’s Sandringham estate, King Charles and Queen Camilla are nowhere to be seen in the video.

Some of the monarch’s friends are critical. One told me: ‘There’s no coincidence that the Middletons appear in it and not the King and Queen. I can assure you that Charles and Camilla will not be filmed kissing each other on a beach [as William and Catherine were] until hell freezes over. It’s distinctly un-regal.’

I spoke to another insider who was even more scathing.

‘All that lying round, hugging and kissing – they’re not soppy teenagers,’ they said. ‘It felt manipulative. It’s the sort of thing that Meghan would make. All the time, effort and expense put into making the video could have been much better spent elsewhere. Why not visit other women being treated for cancer? That’s what Diana would have done.’

Even though I think the latest video is very sweet… William and Catherine don’t need to be ‘Instagram royals’, hungry for ‘likes’ and ‘engagement’ online. They should follow the example of Queen Elizabeth. The late Queen was always keen to keep up to date with the latest technology but, at the same time, maintain the dignity of the Monarchy.

A Kensington Palace spokesman declined to comment on why the Middletons featured in the video but not Their Majesties.

[From The Daily Mail]

It also goes back to my question about why Kate released that tree photo and lengthy statement ahead of Trooping the Colour, because it felt like Kate was making Trooping all about her and ensuring that she was the only story. The same thing here – she was centering herself and trying to convince everyone of her solid marriage (as opposed to sticking with a simple, concise “cancer free” narrative). Nowadays, it looks like Charles and Camilla are absolutely sick of her sh-t. I still believe that Charles stepped in, back in March, and basically rescued William and Kate’s from whatever catastrophe they had gotten into and couldn’t manage their way out of. Cover stories were brainstormed, new people were brought in, narratives were orchestrated and Charles likely hoped that Peg and Buttons could stick with the program for six full months. They could not. Now, is this Charles washing his hands of them? Probably not, but he’s clearly furious at their constant stupidity, vapidity and short-sightedness. “All the time, effort and expense put into making the video could have been much better spent elsewhere. Why not visit other women being treated for cancer? That’s what Diana would have done.” And I oop–

Photos courtesy of Will Warr/Kensington Palace and PA Images/INSTARimages.

Right before Francis Ford Coppola’s 40-years-in-the-making passion project Megalopolis premiered at Cannes, The Guardian ran a piece on the film’s production that wasn’t a takedown, but wasn’t glowing either. At best the article painted Coppola as underprepared, at worst it showed him to be grossly inappropriate with female extras. The film itself was not well-received, so Coppola’s promotion over the summer has been a beleaguered mix of defending the finished work as well as his process. On the film front, the studio tried to get ahead by releasing a trailer featuring bad reviews of previous Coppola classics… only for it to be quickly uncovered that all the reviews were fake. As for Coppola defending his own behavior, other outlets followed The Guardian’s lead, including a Variety cover story about him that was published alongside video footage of him kissing women on set. It seems that Variety story was the straw that broke Coppola’s back: he’s now suing them for libel and $15 million in damages.

The suit, which was filed in the Superior Court of California, Los Angeles on Wednesday, Sept. 11 and reviewed by PEOPLE, names Variety and executive editors Tatiana Siegel and Brent Lang. Siegel and Lang appear on the byline for the article, which was initially published on July 26, 2024 and remains live on the Variety website.

In the suit, Coppola, 85, claims that Variety knew the allegations leveraged against him were “false” and they were made to “harm Coppola’s reputation and cause him severe emotional distress.” He further says “harm has been caused” and he is seeking no less than $15 million in damages and a jury trial.

On Wednesday night, a rep for Coppola issued the following statement on behalf of the director to PEOPLE.

“Nothing in my 60+ years career can equal the painstakingly difficult, yet artistically triumphant journey of bringing Megalopolis to the screen. It was a collaboration of hundreds of artists, from extras to box office stars, to whom I consistently displayed the utmost respect and my deepest gratitude,” the statement read.

“To see our collective efforts tainted by false, reckless and irresponsible reporting is devastating. No publication, especially a legacy industry outlet, should be enabled to use surreptitious video and unnamed sources in pursuit of their own financial gain,” it continued. “While I have no intention of litigating this in the media, I will vigorously defend my reputation and have trust in the courts to hold them accountable.”

Reps for Variety and its parent company PMC did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

The Variety story published in July, which is at the center of Coppola’s complaint, cited anonymous sources that claimed the director tried to kiss female extras in a nightclub scene that were “topless” or “scantily clad.” The source was also allegedly reported as claiming at one point after multiple takes, that Coppola grabbed a microphone and said out loud, “Sorry, if I come up to you and kiss you. Just know it’s solely for my pleasure.”

The lawsuit also complains about the Variety article’s inclusion of video footage reportedly from the scene in question, where Coppola seemingly kisses and dances with female extras while filming in a nightclub. Siegel and Lang wrote that the video corroborated claims that Coppola was trying to kiss extras that initially surfaced in an article by The Guardian on May 14.

…In the court filings, Coppola’s attorneys asserted that before filing the lawsuit, he “provided evidence to Variety that the above allegations were false and Coppola requested that the allegations be retracted. Variety refused and doubled down. It repeated the same allegations and thereby emphasized its malice toward Coppola. In order to clear his name and obtain a public determination of the falsity of Variety’s allegations, Coppola has brought this case.”

[From People]

“While I have no intention of litigating this in the media…” he says in a statement to People Magazine. Coppola made sure the Megalopolis set was an anti-woke safe space for Trump supporters and credibly accused domestic abusers in the cast; a place where at least two intimacy coordinators were among the crew, yet none were present during the filming of this infamous nightclub scene. Multiple trade papers researched and reported on these facts, but it’s 85-year-old Hollywood veteran Coppola who’s suffering emotional distress — to the tune of $15 million — from their (accurate) accounts of him? With this lawsuit, Coppola is accusing Variety of trying to destroy his reputation, when in reality he’s the one successfully doing that to himself. Sadly, though, I’m not surprised by this DARVO move from him. What I am confused by is why is he suing Variety now, but didn’t sue The Guardian back in May?

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Photos credit: Lu Chau / Wenn / Avalon