Category: BUSINESS

Sure, we are no spring chickens, but the latest bout of bad theater etiquette is rightfully ruffling feathers.

Unruly youngsters are flocking to cinemas to see Jack Black’s “A Minecraft Movie,” a lightly unhinged video-game adaptation teeming with porcine witches, flame-throwing skeletons and baby monsters riding poultry. The PG-rated comedy adventure squawked to a staggering $163 million last weekend, the highest opening ever for a video-game film.

But “Minecraft” mania has been fueled by a series of disruptive TikTok trends, with audience members filming themselves as they clap, cheer, scream, jump on seats, and throw popcorn at the screen. One particular scene has become an instant meme, as Black proclaims, “Chicken jockey!” while a pint-sized zombie mounts a bird inside a boxing ring. Adolescent moviegoers frequently shout along with that and other popular lines, including “I am Steve!”

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Police have been called to ‘A Minecraft Movie,’ after complaints of vandalism and live chickens

Footage has circulated on social media of police being called to attend to rowdy filmgoers, some of whom have started bringing live chickens to the movie with them. Multiple U.K. theater chains have issued warnings about kicking out disorderly patrons, while one theater in Washington Township, New Jersey, has announced a ban on unaccompanied minors seeing the blockbuster without a parent or guardian.

“Large groups of unsupervised boys engaged in completely unacceptable behavior, including vandalism,” the Township Theatre management team wrote in a Facebook post. “If your son was at Township Theatre last night, we strongly encourage you to have a conversation with him about his behavior.”

For theater owners, the “Minecraft” phenomenon is a double-edged sword. On one hand, the film has single-handedly reignited a sluggish box-office year, with new movies including “Snow White,” “Mickey 17” and “Captain America: Brave New World” all vastly underperforming in recent months. The success of “Minecraft” has been driven almost entirely by the hard-to-reach young adult demographic, many of whom grew up with the 2011 video game. Eighteen to 24-year-olds accounted for 43% of the film’s audience, followed by 13 to 17-year-olds at 35%, according to PostTrak exit polls.

Jennifer Grygiel, an associate professor of communications at Syracuse University, spoke to NPR earlier this week about why “Minecraft” has resonated so strongly with Gen Z moviegoers in particular, saying that it’s an opportunity for them to congregate and connect offline.

“Maybe some of it is there just isn’t enough that’s bringing them together in the real world,” Grygiel told NPR. “They do want to be analog. They do want to find fun. They do want some entertainment in the terrestrial space.”

Phone use in theaters has become increasingly common after ‘Barbenheimer’

But at some point, theater owners will need to draw a line in the sand on where they come down on appropriate theater behavior. Although cineplexes have long struggled with people talking and texting during movies, audience phone use reached a fever pitch in 2023, thanks to the social media-propelled double feature of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” and Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour” concert film, as young patrons filmed themselves singing and dancing along to her songs.

The worrying trend has only become even more prevalent this past year, with audiences filming much-discussed moments from “Wicked,” “Babygirl,” “Nosferatu” and “Deadpool & Wolverine” on opening weekend and sharing clips to social media.

Interactive screenings are not out of the norm. (After all, who hasn’t enjoyed a rambunctious showing of “The Room” or “The Rocky Horror Picture Show?”) But recent incidents continue to inspire “debates about what level of participation with other audience members, or on the phone, is appropriate without being distracting to others,” says Shawn Robbins, founder and owner of Box Office Theory, a movie industry analysis site.

“Should there be screenings specifically made available and eventized as interactive events?” Robbins asks. “It’s an ongoing discussion in the industry as younger generations have different consumer expectations in a media-dominated world than their elder counterparts.”

Major chains such as AMC offer movie fans the chance to rent out theaters for a steep price, allowing them to belt their hearts out to “Wicked” as loudly as they please. Alamo Drafthouse, meanwhile, will sometimes host “rowdy” screenings of recent cult classics including “Cats” and “Fifty Shades Freed,” where theatergoers are free to hoot and holler throughout.

But for the time being, it seems unlikely that theater owners will take any meaningful action against your average rude patron. So please, folks, we politely beg: Be respectful, turn off your phones and leave the chicken at home.

It’s official. The Oscar for best stunt is finally rolling up to the Academy Awards.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the creation of the honor − officially called the Academy Award for Achievement in Stunt Design − beginning in 2028 for the 100th Academy Awards.

“Since the early days of cinema, stunt design has been an integral part of filmmaking,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer and president Janet Yang said in a joint statement on Thursday. “We are proud to honor the innovative work of these technical and creative artists.”

Category rules for eligibility and voting for the inaugural award will be announced in 2027. More than 100 stunt professionals are members of the Academy’s Production and Technology Branch.

‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’: Brad Pitt’s role boosted stunt profession with Oscar push

The stunt award has long been advocated by stunt professionals and the people who admire the art onscreen. In 2019, the year Brad Pitt starred as a stuntman in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” a high-octane “Stand Up for Stunts” video played before the movie at the Alamo Drafthouse theater chain. 

In 2012, legendary stuntman Hal Needham was presented with an honorary Oscar and was introduced by Quentin Tarantino at the Governors Awards. “You know, you’re looking at the luckiest man alive,” Needham said during his acceptance speech. “And lucky to be alive.”

Hollywood reacts to the news of best stunt design Oscar

There was a long-overdue celebration for the Oscar for best stunt design on Thursday. “The Fall Guy” director David Leitch, the onetime stuntman who spearheaded the award initiative with stunt actor Chris O’Hara, said in a statement: “This has been a long journey for so many of us.”

“Stunts are essential to every genre of film and rooted deep in our industry’s history − from the groundbreaking work of early pioneers like Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, and Charlie Chaplin, to the inspiring artistry of today’s stunt designers, coordinators, performers, and choreographers,” Leitch said. “We are incredibly grateful. Thank you, Academy.” 

“Captain America: The Winter Soldier” co-director Joe Russo posted a Ryan Gosling thumbs-up GIF from “The Fall Guy” on X.

“Stunt Teams getting the news they can now win an Oscar,” Russo wrote.

To reach Higashiyoshino, in Nara Prefecture, one must travel more than four hours by bullet train from Tokyo. The surrounding countryside is deep in cedar and cypress trees; 96 per cent of the land is forest, in which bears and antelopes still roam freely through the vegetation, and the small population of 1,322 villagers live in dwellings between the trees. It’s here, in this remote outpost, that the British product designer Felix Conran and his partner Emily Smith settled last year, having found an abandoned 140-year-old wooden house. Together, they’ve undertaken a mammoth renovation using traditional Japanese carpentry.

Conran, 30, is no stranger to rural life. His grandfather, the late Sir Terence Conran, founder of Habitat and London’s Design Museum, made his home at the 18th-century Barton Court, a near ruin in Berkshire that he transformed into a country pile in the ’70s. Conran’s father, the furniture designer Alex Willcock, lived in West Sussex in a Grade II-listed 17th-century residence, Kemps House, also taking on some of the renovation himself. Restoration is in the blood.

This is a case study in reviving abandoned houses

Conran’s own journey to Japan is the culmination of a series of life developments. He studied product design at Central Saint Martins before co-founding the furniture company Maker & Son with his father in 2018. The company, which at one point employed up to 250 people, produces handmade pieces in natural materials. “My life and joy was tied to the success of my company,” says Conran of building the business with Willcock, which they sold in 2022. Having divested himself of the responsibility, the designer found himself relieved of the pressure, but at a loss as to what to do. So, the following year, Smith suggested they embark on a three-month holiday in Japan. The road trip, which took them across the Japanese archipelago from the north to Okinawa, proved to be life-changing. Once they reached Higashiyoshino village, the couple booked into an Airbnb. “Within half an hour, I was mesmerised by the village, which has a clear stream flowing right through it,” remembers Conran. “Emily and I looked at each other and said, ‘Shall we live here?’” 

Their Airbnb host Kazu Sakamoto told them about a number of ancient abandoned wooden houses nearby. “It was then I had the idea that this could be my profession in Japan – to restore and renovate old neglected houses and turn them into modern homes.” Conran set up a company Ha Partners, named after the Japanese word for mother (“haha”) and Smith’s mother’s Korean family name so that he could work in the country, and returned to the UK to pick up their two dogs before the couple moved to Higashiyoshino last March.

Conran’s new home, which he and Smith have named Forest House, is one of his first renovations in this new building adventure. It was previously used as a warehouse and cattle shed. “There are an increasing number of old houses, not only in Higashiyoshino village but across rural Japan, that are no longer in use and left in a poor condition as it costs money to demolish them,” says Conran. “My aim is to show that it is possible to breathe new life into these neglected buildings, not by restoring them exactly as they were, but by appropriating them into modern and lovable houses, preserving as much as can be preserved. It is not a question of why I as an English person would do such a thing, but why I as a human being would do this. It was a pity to see a house, which has been part of the local history and culture, left to ruin. Renovating this place in Higashiyoshino is a case study in reviving other abandoned houses.” 

Intriguing details about the property arrived from next door. “Our 87-year-old neighbour Mr Kizu, who was born in this village and lived here all his life, told us the original house had been uninhabited for more than 85 years,” he says. “It would have been easier to demolish it and build from scratch, but then it would have looked as though a spaceship had landed here from nowhere. I believe a home should be part of the progression of local tradition, not detached from it.”

What drew us to the area is the care people put into everyday life

Although Conran is an accomplished designer, he had little experience in restoration work. For these houses, he sought the help of his friend, local Japanese architect Na Yamamoto, who helped him draw up plans for the house. Carpenters and woodworkers adept in traditional Japanese carpentry were then brought in to work with the timbers. “During the process of dismantling the house, we discovered the concealed wood joinery. I was amazed by the dextrous skill of carpenters who, more than 100 years ago, made these joints so they were not visible externally, without a single nail,” Conran recalls. “The techniques they used make these structures very strong. Discovering them was like talking to a person I’d never met.”

Kenta Kitamori, a 34-year-old carpenter who worked with Conran, used traditional kanawa and shachi joints for the beams, and daisen joints for posts – replicating techniques that have been used in temples and shrines for more than 300 years. The exterior walls, meanwhile, were treated with armour cladding or yoroi bari, a traditional construction method in which wood veneer is laid in slightly tilted layers (like the structure of armour). It’s a technique that was developed in the rainy regions of Japan, such as Nara, as it allows rainwater to drain away. Instead of acting as a structural wall, however, the walls are a membrane to improve insulation. The original structural wall has cedar cladding.

The abundant use of cedar and cypress also helps connect the family to their surroundings. Cedar and cypress trees from this region are more robust than those from other parts of Japan. “Generally, 3,000 trees are planted on a hectare of land but, in Higashiyoshino, people plant 10,000 per hectare,” Conran explains. “In such a high density, trees can’t grow rapidly and will mature more slowly. This creates a denser wood. In the west, cedar and cypress are not considered suitable for building materials, but Yoshino wood is extremely strong.”

Inside the house, wood is found everywhere: from the window frames to the flooring and kitchen, which were all designed by Conran, except for several pieces made by Hiiro Yamamoto, a local craftsman. Entering through the sliding door at the front of the north-facing house, the floor is raised 30cm off the ground, as in traditional Japanese houses. The bedroom and bathroom are found on the east side to take advantage of the morning sun, while the dining area and kitchen, on the west side, benefit from the warmth of the afternoon light. In the centre of the house, a fireplace was built to resemble an irori, the hearth where people would traditionally gather and cook. The most impressive feature, however, are the 3,200 wood blocks covering the floor, all cut to 15cm by 7.5cm in size. 

In the old days in rural Japan, the whole village would gather to build a single house. While Conran and Smith armed themselves with trowels to apply the Japanese keisodo plaster walls (which contain diatomite to make them breathable, insulating and sound-absorbent) themselves, a list of local carpenters, woodworkers, plasterers and neighbours helped out in this instance, watched on by 92-year-old Mrs Umemoto, who lives across the street.

Reflecting on their first year, Conran says: “I am intentionally enjoying each day.” He points to the surrounding landscape. “What drew us to this area is the care people put into their everyday life. People know they are blessed to be in nature. Mrs Umemoto was born here and even at the age of 90-plus, she climbs up the mountain slopes that can be 45 degrees or more, to smell the wild plants and mushrooms, and gather magnolia leaves. She lives an almost self-sufficient life. I think that is what a beautiful life is all about,” he concludes. “I learn from those who have the knowledge and wisdom. Every day is a new discovery.” 

President Donald Trump may be a business tycoon, but Whoopi Goldberg isn’t sold on the commander in chief’s tariffs.

“The View” co-host, 69, criticized the president’s market-rattling approach to import tariffs during Wednesday’s episode of the ABC talk show. The discussion came just hours before Trump, 78, announced a 90-day pause on U.S. levies.

“All you countries who watch us, this is not our wish,” Goldberg said. “This is not what the American people want. We don’t like it. We don’t like how this is being done.”

Trump’s about-face followed an escalating trade war with China and the European Union. China hit back at Trump’s 145% tariffs on Chinese imports, which went into effect Wednesday, with 84% tariffs on U.S. exports.

Later, the EU said it would impose 25% tariffs on a range of U.S. exports in a first round of countermeasures to Trump’s universal 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum.

The tit-for-tat levies heightened concerns from business leaders and economists about a possible recession. But Trump downplayed the economic turbulence in a Wednesday morning post on his social media network, Truth Social: “BE COOL! Everything is going to work out well. The USA will be bigger and better than ever before!”

Goldberg continued: “That’s why you will hear us kvetching about this as long as we are able because no one we are talking to understands what’s going on. And therefore, when they say ‘America,’ they are not talking about us.

“They are talking about that very narrow band of America that they think they represent, that I think they don’t realize they’re starting to lose.”

‘None of your business’: Whoopi Goldberg defends Selena Gomez’s body on ‘The View’

The tariff pause, which applies to nations that did not retaliate against the tariffs Trump unveiled last week, sent battered U.S. stocks soaring Wednesday, although they gave up a significant amount of the gains Thursday. The EU responded by putting on hold for 90 days its first countermeasures against U.S. tariffs.

Additionally, National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett said Thursday that the U.S. has already received “serious” trade deal offers from almost 20 nations and that two deals are “almost closed.”

Despite the pause, Trump’s 10% baseline tariffs on most imports remain in effect. Trump said he will revive the higher reciprocal tariffs if the U.S. is unable to reach trade deals with those nations.

Whoopi Goldberg slams Donald Trump for calling ‘View’ hosts ‘dumb’ after Kamala Harris interview

This isn’t the first time Goldberg has been critical of Trump. After the president called Goldberg’s raunchy comedy style “filthy, dirty” and “disgusting” during an October 2024 campaign rally, Goldberg walked out to “Dirrty” by Christina Aguilera on “The View” and then roasted Trump for his remarks.

“I was filthy and stand on that fact. I have always been filthy, and you knew that when you hired me,” said Goldberg, who previously performed at Trump-hosted events. “I headlined, babe, at your casino, which I might’ve continued to play had you not run it into the ground. How dumb are you? You hired me four times.”

Contributing: John Bacon, Joey Garrison, Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, Jorge L. Ortiz and Jay Stahl, USA TODAY

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Conan O’Brien will ruffle Hollywood feathers when Season 2 of his travel series “Conan O’Brien Must Go” takes flight May 8 on Max.

O’Brien, 61, who will return as Oscars host next year, unveiled the premiere of the six-episode season at the raucous, sold-out opening night of the “This Is Not a Fiction” documentary festival on Wednesday.

Among the new adventures, the Spain trip features a tour of Madrid from famed resident Javier Bardem. Bardem’s wife, Penélope Cruz, should be warned: there are scenes of O’Brien and Bardem sleeping together in a hotel bed (in several positions) after an exhausting day of sightseeing. The crashed duo share a bed in matching pajamas.

Speaking after the screening, O’Brien compared his bed interlude with Bardem to a kiss with Ryan Reynolds for a spoof of “The Notebook.”

“So I have slept with Javier Bardem. And a bunch of years ago at Comic-Con, I made out with Ryan Reynolds… then we shot a bit,” said O’Brien, who called his nocturnal Bardem scenes “wonderful.”

Conan O’Brien will return As Oscars host for next year’s Academy Awards

“I have these experiences that so many people on my staff envy,” said O’Brien. “They’re like, ‘Wait a minute, you got to sleep with Javier Bardem?’”

Oscar-winning Bardem (“No Country for Old Men”) was enthusiastic about leading O’Brien on the TV tour. What started with one planned stop turned into much more.

“He kept saying, ‘No, we have to do more. I have another idea. Let’s do this,’” said O’Brien. “He doesn’t have enough work.”

In another segment from the season premiere, O’Brien performs a mocking voiceover of Vin Diesel’s dialogue from “The Street Always Wins” scene in “Furious 7.”

“There is the fear of Vin Diesel getting angry. I’ll deal with that when it comes,” said O’Brien. “Sometimes I worry about these things. Then I realize, what are you going to do?”

He made no apologies for being obsessed with the “Furious” clip, which features Diesel’s Dominic Toretto character beating Jason Statham’s Deckard Shaw with a seismic boot stomp that destroys a garage.

“I could watch that clip for hours. It makes no sense,” joked O’Brien. “I will just talk about how insane it is that one stomp with his size-three boot would cause that garage to collapse.”

The new season features more global high jinks as O’Brien visits his fans in New Zealand and Austria.

The travel series has already been renewed for a third season in a politically charged global climate. “Now that America is loved more than ever, I’m looking forward to being an ambassador,” he said sarcastically. “If nothing else, people can take out their aggression and rage on me.”

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“This final chapter of June’s journey highlights the importance of hope, courage, solidarity, and resilience in the pursuit of justice and freedom,” according to the season synopsis.

“The Handmaid’s Tale” returned earlier this week for its sixth and final season and the first three episodes had a lot to unpack.

After escaping Gilead, June (Elisabeth Moss) finally finds peace in Alaska where she is reunited with her mother Holly (Cherry Jones). However, her peace is short-lived, and she returns to No Man’s Land to successfully help husband Luke (O-T Fagbenle), and best friend Moira (Samira Wiley) escape a Mayday mission gone bad. On the other hand, Commander Lawrence (Bradley Whitford) is attempting to build New Bethlehem, Gilead’s new, reformed community where refugees are welcomed back.

According to Hulu, June will fight to take down Gilead with Luke and Moira joining the resistance in the final season of Emmy-winning drama series. Serena, meanwhile, “tries to reform Gilead while Commander Lawrence and Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd) reckon with what they have wrought, and Nick (Max Minghella) faces challenging tests of character.”

“This final chapter of June’s journey highlights the importance of hope, courage, solidarity, and resilience in the pursuit of justice and freedom,” the season’s synopsis says.

Adapted from Canadian author Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel of the same name, “The Handmaid’s Tale” tells “the story of life in the dystopia of Gilead, a totalitarian society in what was formerly the United States,” according to the series synopsis.

June/Offred, one of the few fertile women in the oppressive Republic of Gilead, known as Handmaids, “struggles to survive as a reproductive surrogate for a powerful Commander and his resentful wife” in society.

Here’s what to know about Season 6 of “The Handmaid’s Tale,” including full episode schedule and cast.

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When do new episodes of the ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ come out? Release date, time

New episodes of “The Handmaid’s Tale” Season 6 drop every Tuesday on Hulu at midnight ET / 9 p.m. PT (previous day).

‘The Handmaid’s Tale’: Stream on Hulu | Watch on Sling

Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle

‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Season 6 episode schedule

Season 6 “The Handmaid’s Tale” premiered with the first three episodes on April 8. The final season of the series will have 10 episodes. Here’s what the upcoming schedule looks like:

• Episode 4 “Promotion”: April 15
• Episode 5 “Janine”: April 22
• Episode 6 “Surprise”: April 29
• Episode 7 “Shattered”: May 6
• Episode 8 “Exodus”: May 13
• Episode 9 “Execution”: May 20
• Episode 10 “The Handmaid’s Tale”: May 27

How to watch ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Season 6

“The Handmaid’s Tale” will be available to stream on Hulu, starting April 8.

Hulu offers membership options ranging from $7.99 a month to $17.99 a month for normal streaming services and $75.99 a month to $89.99 a month for plans with streaming and live television. New users can also sign up for a free trial.

Watch every season of The Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu

‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Season 6 cast

Cast members for “The Handmaid’s Tale” Season 6, as per Hulu, include:

• Elisabeth Moss as June Osborne / Offred
• Yvonne Strahovski as Serena Joy Waterford
• Bradley Whitford as Commander Joseph Lawrence
• Max Minghella as Commander Nick Blaine
• Ann Dowd as Aunt Lydia Clements
• O-T Fagbenle as Luke Bankole
• Samira Wiley as Moira Strand
• Madeline Brewer as Janine Lindo / Ofwarren / Ofdaniel / Ofhoward
• Amanda Brugel as Rita Blue
• Ever Carradine as Naomi Putnam
• Sam Jaeger as Mark Tuello
• Josh Charles as High Commander Wharton

Watch ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Season 6 trailer

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Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.

Soulja Boy was found liable Thursday in a civil trial after facing allegations of sexual assault and kidnapping brought by a woman who claims she was his former assistant.

A California jury found Soulja Boy, 34, liable in his civil case for claims of sexual battery, assault, false imprisonment and more, and the anonymous assistant was awarded more than $4 million in compensatory damages, according to a release from her attorney.

The outcome concludes a trial in Santa Monica, California, which saw the rapper, whose real name is DeAndre Cortez Way, accused of physical and sexual violence. The “Crank That (Soulja Boy)” emcee has previously denied any wrongdoing.

“We’re happy our client was vindicated, and the jury believed her claims of physical and sexual assault,” said Ron Zambrano, an attorney for the Jane Doe plaintiff. “We’re looking forward to moving on to the punitive damages phase of the case.”

In a statement to USA TODAY, Way’s attorney Rickey Ivie said the evidence presented in the case “does not support the verdict.”

“It is unfortunate that aspersions and misperceptions of a culture were allowed to influence the trial,” Ivie said. “Mr. Way fully intends to pursue his post-trial remedies and to fight for a just result in this case.”

Soulja Boy trial, explained

The trial, which began in March, saw both the rapper and his alleged former assistant take the stand to recount their sides of the story. The woman, along with her legal team, painted a picture of a violent man whose abusive cycles included demeaning text messages, physical harm, and threats.

“I didn’t even feel human anymore. I felt like an animal,” she told jurors according to Rolling Stone and Vibe. “I wanted to die.”

Way painted their relationship as entirely consensual and called the allegation that he would beat her “disgusting.”

The trial was based on a lawsuit filed in January 2021 in which a woman, who chose to remain anonymous and be identified as Jane Doe, alleged the rapper began sending her unsolicited nude pictures within the first month of her employment as his personal assistant. The two then began a romantic relationship that ultimately turned toxic, the lawsuit alleges.

Marlon Wayans drops AI-generated country music diss track to taunt Soulja Boy amid feud

Lawyers for Doe accused Way of “numerous instances of physical violence,” including kicking, throwing and punching, as well as “sexual assaults, spitting on her body, and threats of physical violence and death.”

When the woman tried to quit and leave, the lawsuit alleges Way locked her in a room against her will for three days with no hot water.

After fleeing, the lawsuit alleges the woman was violently attacked and raped by Way on separate occasions when she attempted to retrieve her belongings. Lawyers for Doe also argued she is owed unpaid wages for her work as a personal assistant.

Soulja Boy allegations: Other lawsuits arise alleging ‘abuse’

In May 2021, four months after the complaint against Way was filed, the rapper was hit with another lawsuit from a woman who alleged he subjected her to “constant abuse” during their romantic relationship.

Chris Brown vs. Soulja Boy: A timeline of their exhausting beef

The second accuser, who also opted to remain anonymous, said she suffered a miscarriage after Way became irate and began punching and kicking her.

“It took her years to escape the psychological and physical grasp of her abuser,” her lawyer, Neama Rahmani, told USA TODAY at the time.

Way was also accused of assault and kidnapping by a former girlfriend, Kayla Myers. According to Billboard, he was ordered to pay her $235,900 in compensatory damages and $236,000 in punitive damages in 2023.

(This story has been updated to add new information.)

Contributing: Maria Puente and Brendan Morrow, USA TODAY

Amid an overhaul at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, a musician is calling out the interim president for an “unprofessional and rude” email exchange.

Guitarist and composer Yasmin Williams took to Instagram Wednesday to share a thread between her and Richard Grenell, the temporary head of the cultural institution. In a series of screenshots, Williams showed an increasingly hostile exchange between her and Grenell after she asked several questions about changes to the programming under President Donald Trump.

USA TODAY has reached out to reps for Williams and the Kennedy Center for comment.

The Kennedy Center just got a big shake up. What to know.

“I hope posting this email thread illuminates the terrible folks who are now leading the Kennedy Center,” Williams wrote in a caption alongside the photos. “I’ve had so many amazing career and life highlights at the Kennedy Center and I hate to think that the establishment could be run down permanently by this man.”

After Williams asked whether President Trump cared that certain artists had decided to cancel shows at the Kennedy Center after he announced the overhaul and if the institution had implemented any changes related to hiring and booking, Grenell responded by asking her if she would play for an audience that included Republicans or boycott.

When Williams wrote back that boycotting a performance because Republicans might be in her audience made no sense, Grenell, who was the ambassador to Germany during Trump’s first term, retorted that “Every single person who canceled a show did so because they couldn’t be in the presence of Republicans.”

“You shouldn’t believe what you read in the newspapers who exist to hate Republicans,” Grenell continued. “Don’t swallow what the media tells you. Don’t be gullible.”

In February, Trump announced a massive overhaul at the Kennedy Center that included the termination of multiple board of trustees members, including Chairman David Rubenstein. He also replaced longtime president Deborah Rutter with Grenell.

The reason for the changes, Trump wrote in a Truth Social post, was the center’s decision to host drag show performances at its venue.

Issa Rae cancels Kennedy Center event, Shonda Rhimes exits as Trump appointed chairman

In response to all the upheaval, multiple stars and artists cut ties with the center, with several high-profile board members stepping down and others canceling future performances. An interview with Issa Rae and several performances of the Broadway hit “Hamilton” were among the events canceled.

In the email exchange, Grenell also went on to reference an instance in which Vice President JD Vance was booed during a Kennedy Center performance following the changes, calling the shouters “your people” and asking Williams, “Who is the intolerant one?”

Then, in a paragraphs long screed, he enumerated several serious money problems the Kennedy Center was facing and confirmed that he had fired some high-earning staff and cut DEI programs “because we are in debt.”

“Yes I cut the DEI (expletive) because we can’t afford to pay people for fringe and niche programming that the public won’t support,” he wrote. “YOU reached out to me unsolicited and accused me of being intolerant. Don’t be a victim now.”

In response, Williams asked for Grenell to re-read her original email, stating that she had never called him intolerant and chided him for his “unprofessional,” “rude,” and “defensive” response.

“HUGE shout out to the employees, members of the (National Symphony Orchestra), and everyone else who has to deal with such terrible leadership and have their work environment be so chaotic and upsetting,” she continued in her caption.

Contributing: Savannah Kuchar

NEW YORK − When Rami Malek won an Oscar for playing Freddie Mercury in “Bohemian Rhapsody,” he remarked in his acceptance speech, “I may not have been the obvious choice, but I guess it worked out.”

The same could be said about his character in “The Amateur,” a new spy thriller led by the least obvious choice to be an action hero: a nerdy, socially awkward CIA analyst who would normally spend an entire movie behind a computer telling Jason Bourne or Ethan Hunt where to go.

When Malek, 43, was asked what he wanted to do next after “Bohemian Rhapsody,” he surprised even himself with his response. “I said, ‘I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I want to do an action film,’ ” the actor recalls. “Because I never thought you’d see a guy of my stature, my complexion, someone who wasn’t the obvious choice, in that position.”

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Based on the Robert Littell novel, “The Amateur” stars Malek as CIA decoder Charlie Heller, whose wife, Sarah (Rachel Brosnahan), is killed in a terrorist attack. When it becomes clear the CIA has no intention of pursuing justice, Charlie takes matters into his own hands, blackmailing the agency into training him so he can go after the killers himself.

That comes courtesy of Laurence Fishburne’s Colonel Henderson, who is assigned the role of Charlie’s teacher. After being introduced to Charlie, Henderson is “not impressed,” the “Matrix” star notes. “He’s almost like, ‘What is this, a punishment?’” Fishburne, 63, says, laughing. “Why have I been punished with teaching this clearly inept guy? He’s not going to be able to hurt anybody.”

But Henderson soon discovers he has drastically underestimated Charlie. The idea that someone who the world has placed in a box could prove they’re capable of more than anyone expected resonated with Fishburne. “Throughout my life, people have underestimated me, or tried to pigeonhole me and had a preconceived notion of who I am based on a character I play,” he says.

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Malek, too, reflects that he has felt like he had to “constantly prove” himself since he was a kid. He sees a link between his role in “The Amateur” and his previous characters, particularly his Emmy-winning turn as socially awkward hacker Elliot on “Mr. Robot.”

“It’s been a theme in my work: feeling underestimated and finding characters who are alienated or feel disenfranchised and overlooked, and who go on to do some pretty extraordinary things,” he says.

So while “The Amateur” is Malek’s first lead role in an action film, it felt like a natural extension of his work on the USA Network series.

“I remember being on ‘Mr. Robot’ for so many years thinking, he is an action hero, to a degree,” Malek says. “Instead of donning a cape, he puts on his hoodie. The premise (of ‘The Amateur’) was, ‘How do I take somebody like that, that flies under the radar, and put him on the big screen?’ “

‘The Amateur’: See Rami Malek go from CIA nerd to assassin

Rami Malek stars as a CIA decoder who doles out vengeance when his wife is killed by terrorists in “The Amateur.”

But Malek and director James Hawes tried to be realistic about how someone like Charlie would act in the field after a career behind a desk. In one scene, he begins walking away from an explosion, but rather than looking unmoved, Charlie can’t help but flinch.

“We all see these movies where people walk away from explosions in slow motion,” Malek says. “I’ve seen actors desperately trying to keep their eyes open and not blinking. It’s impossible! You hear a gunshot and you are going to flinch. You are going to blink.”

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While filming another sequence, Malek, worn out from running for 15 consecutive takes, fell over. But this being “The Amateur,” the blooper fit right in.

“That was the most natural moment we had, and we decided to keep it in the film. I look exhausted because I was. I fell because I naturally tripped.”

“The Amateur” also explores what loss can drive a person to do, and Malek paid close attention to where Charlie was in the stages of grief.

“I love to do the homework on what somebody like that is feeling, what grief actually feels like and how you could possibly weaponize that,” he says.

“The Amateur” was new territory for Malek in another way: It was his first time producing a movie. He saw this as a logical progression, because on past films like “No Time to Die” and “Bohemian Rhapsody,” he offered feedback on minute details like the choice of camera lens.

“I’m a little sneaky, I must admit,” he jokes of his tendency to provide his input behind the scenes while avoiding stepping on any toes. Becoming a producer allowed Malek to get hands-on “without having to navigate those waters so delicately.”

Though “The Amateur” came from Malek being asked to consider his next steps after “Bohemian Rhapsody,” six years after his Academy Award for best actor, he remembers trying to take in that achievement without immediately thinking about the future.

“It’s one of those things that will probably never happen again. I don’t know if I ever need it to. But I wasn’t necessarily thinking about, ‘How do I capitalize on this?’ I just wanted to appreciate it. I do to this day, and I always will.”