Fashion’s most spectacular event returned. Anyone who is apparently someone gathered in Manhattan for the Met Gala.  And I know what you’re thinking: “Sorry, Klavan, what were you saying? I dozed off after the word spectacular. One moment, I was listening to you blather about fashion, then suddenly I was walking through a sky-blue emptiness decorated entirely with pictures of my mother, and mysterious voices were revealing all my secret sexual fantasies so that suddenly I started screaming, ‘Just a minute, this isn’t heaven, this is the other place!’ Then I woke up, and you were talking about celebrities or something. So what the hell is going on?”
Alright, that may not be exactly what you were thinking. In fact, maybe that’s what I was thinking. Or maybe that was reality, and this is the nightmare, in which case, let’s get back to the Met Gala.
Every year, rich people who seem to think highly of themselves for no discernible reason gather at the Metropolitan Museum of Art to desecrate its wonderful art collection by dressing up like idiots and then posing and flouncing around for the cameras like idiots who are also pansies but still idiots. These are the individuals whose fabulous glamor holds our cultural elites in fascinated thrall, while the rest of us are watching Shane Gillis because at least he has some talent, so we know why we’re looking at him.
But, of course, the Met Gala’s biggest attraction is the amazing outfits that show off how God gifted these women with beauty and these men with homosexuality. Famous designers go to the absolute limits of their lack of talent to create dresses for women who have absolutely everything except the simple dignity to cover themselves when they go outside lest they be exposed as narcissistic exhibitionists with nothing to contribute to society besides an inappropriate glimpse of their supposed-to-be-private parts. This year’s prize for the least amount of modesty went to Kylie Jenner, who simply sent her bare breasts to the gala while the rest of her stayed home watching “Temptation Island” with a Budweiser Select 55 and a bucket of wings.
Madonna arrived shrouded in black as if she were dead. Which really wasn’t all that shocking, until the EMTs showed up to carry her out to the hearse and she started shrieking, &#8220;Wait, wait, I’m still alive,&#8221; which surprised everyone. Doctors examined Madonna and declared that, yes, she was still alive, so only her career should be buried.
Sarah Paulson, who is very famous for I have no idea what, bought her $100,000 ticket out of her $12 million net worth in order to wear a dollar bill mask to protest wealthy people by dramatizing the fact that money is blind. Paulson made a dramatic entrance until she walked forehead first into a low-hanging water pipe, reeled backward and smashed into a wall, then stumbled to the very brink of a descending stairway and murmured, &#8220;Maybe I should’ve put some eye-holes in this dollar mask,&#8221; before she tried to walk away but instead somersaulted down the stairs into the museum’s Egyptian wing, where she had a flirtatious chat with a man who’d been dead for three and a half thousand years.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/andrew-klavan-ep-1278"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-974735 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-1024x171.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-1024x171.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-300x50.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-768x128.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-1536x256.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now.jpg 1800w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
Singer Stevie Nicks was also there. Nicks recently revealed she was glad she had had an abortion, because if she’d let her child live, there would have been no Fleetwood Mac. Nicks wore an outfit with a large empty space in the middle to show where her soul used to be.
Cultural elites were also delighted to see their new favorite celebrity, White House Correspondents&#8217; Dinner attacker Cole Tomas Allen. Allen, wearing an elegant orange jumpsuit, was released from jail to attend the Met Gala after DEI Judge Zia Faruqui apologized for having him locked up when all he’d done was try to shoot the president, and let’s face it, who hasn’t at this point?
All in all, the fashion spectacular was a sparkling and glamorous reminder that even the mightiest nations ultimately succumb to corruption and produce an elite class so useless and perverse, it drags a civilization that was the labor of centuries into a hellish oblivion. But at least they dress badly.

Met Gala – 1

The Met Gala: Hunger Games For Cultural Elites

Hollywood

Met Gala

The Left

A nostalgic, feel-good series is heading to Fox for the 2027-28 television season.
It was just announced that “Highway to Heaven,” a remake of the classic 1980s show starring Michael Landon, is currently in the works. The series follows a “probationary” angel who must perform good deeds on Earth to earn his wings.
“I’m excited by the challenge of putting a contemporary lens on this classic tale,” showrunner Jason Katims (“Parenthood,” “Friday Night Lights”) said in a statement, <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/highway-to-heaven-remake-fox-2027-28-1236588427/">per</a> The Hollywood Reporter. “The idea of telling a very grounded, human story about an angel feels immediately emotional to me — and fun. I love going outside my comfort zone to tell a tale about someone trying to do better as an angel than he did as a man.”
Amblin and Michael Landon Productions are also involved in making the series. The original star of “Highway to Heaven” died in 1991 after battling pancreatic cancer. Landon is also known for his role on “Little House on the Prairie,” which is getting its own reboot released on Netflix in July 2026.
“Highway to Heaven has always been about connection, compassion and the idea that small acts can have big ripple effects and make a lasting difference,” Cindy Landon, Michael Landon’s widow and an executive producer of the new series, said in a statement. “I’m proud to help carry Michael’s legacy forward with partners like Fox and Amblin, who understand the heart of this series and are bringing it to a new generation at just the right moment.”
Cindy also shared the news on Instagram, writing, “‘Highway to Heaven&#8217; was always more than a television show — it was about humanity, compassion, hope, and the power of touching people’s lives through storytelling. Michael poured his heart and soul into these stories, and I know this new chapter would mean so much to him. I’m incredibly grateful to everyone involved for believing in the heart of this series and having the vision to bring it to life once again.”
Landon <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-01-12-ca-35087-story.html">told</a> the Los Angeles Times in 1988 that “Highway to Heaven” was something he &#8220;had to get out of my system.&#8221;
Brandon Tartikoff, then-president of entertainment at NBC, told the outlet that Landon did the show to “give the audience a good cry.&#8221;
“You&#8217;re going to laugh or cry, one or the other — you&#8217;re not just going to watch a car chase,” Landon said of the original series. “I do the kind of shows that I like to sit down and watch with my family.”

Highway to Heaven

Beloved Faith-Based Show From The ’80s Gets A Major Reboot

Entertainment

Television

The Met Gala is always a ridiculous spectacle, but this year may have taken the cake as the absolute worst of the worst.
The theme this year was “Costume Art,” and the dress code was “Fashion is Art.”
Observers noted that one red carpet attendee was being touted with a title that sounded like a “South Park” parody, but instead was 100% real. Aariana Rose Philip arrived and was described as “a black transgender disabled model with quadriplegic cerebral palsy.”
“When people see my mannequin, I want them to see a beautiful, sexy lady,” Philip <a href="https://www.vogue.com/article/aariana-rose-philip-2026-met-gala">told</a> Vogue ahead of the event. “I want them to see a supermodel and a legend. I want them to see that disabled and black trans people matter always, and that we should’ve been in these spaces for a long time.”
<div id="attachment_1089497" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1089497" class="size-large wp-image-1089497" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Aariana-Rose-Philip-864x576.jpg" alt="Aariana Rose Philip" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Aariana-Rose-Philip-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Aariana-Rose-Philip-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Aariana-Rose-Philip-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Aariana-Rose-Philip.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue</div>
Actress Sarah Paulson is also being criticized for her $1 bill mask, which is supposed to be a criticism of “the 1%.” Her stunt was seen as especially hypocritical considering Paulson’s <a href="https://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-celebrities/actors/sarah-paulson-net-worth/">estimated</a> $12 million net worth.
Even the libs were annoyed by the “American Horror Story” actress’s stunt, with many noting how it cost about $75,000 just to attend the fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Gown designer Matières Fécales <a href="https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/reports/a71216914/sarah-paulson-met-gala-tone-deaf/">said</a> of the look: “Fashion is Art and at its most daring, Political. [Paulson] is wearing the ‘Blinded by Money’ leather mask and the Destroyed Tulle Debutante Ballgown. The collection was a reflection of the greed and corruption that comes with extreme power.”
<div id="attachment_1089499" style="width: 859px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1089499" class="size-large wp-image-1089499" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Sarah-Paulson-849x576.jpg" alt="Sarah Paulson" width="849" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Sarah-Paulson-849x576.jpg 849w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Sarah-Paulson-300x204.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Sarah-Paulson-768x521.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Sarah-Paulson.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 849px) 100vw, 849px" />Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue</div>
The outfit was compared to the infamous “Tax the Rich” dress that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) wore to the Met Gala in 2021. 
Meanwhile, MTV touted Hunter Schafer, a man who identifies as a woman, as the “Pretttiestt girl in the whole world!”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Pretttiestt girl in the whole world!
📍 Hunter Schafer at the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MetGala?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MetGala</a> <a href="https://t.co/p4DYlYx07U">pic.twitter.com/p4DYlYx07U</a>
— MTV (@MTV) <a href="https://twitter.com/MTV/status/2051443532078907630?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“Snow White” actress Rachel Zegler was also at the event, causing a spectacle. She wore a white dress and a blindfold inspired by the painting &#8220;The Execution of Lady Jane Grey&#8221; by Paul Delaroche. Viewers pointed out her strange mannerisms while walking the red carpet, including opening and closing her mouth without making any sounds, which was thought to be symbolic of crying for help.
<div id="attachment_1089501" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1089501" class="size-large wp-image-1089501" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Rachel-Zegler-864x576.jpg" alt="Rachel Zegler" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Rachel-Zegler-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Rachel-Zegler-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Rachel-Zegler-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Rachel-Zegler.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Angela Weiss / AFP</div>
Leftists were annoyed that the Met Gala was sponsored by billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez, but many pointed out that the richest celebrities in the world had no right to call out Bezos for his massive wealth. 
Hundreds of “piss bottles” filled with fake urine were distributed throughout the Met by the British political activist group Everyone Hates Elon. The move sought to highlight allegations that Amazon employees don’t receive adequate bathroom breaks.
“Jeff Bezos’s company Amazon is literally being sued for forcing workers to urinate in bottles,” the group <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DX1iP3CCLL-/?img_index=1">shared</a> on Instagram. “Amazon avoids MILLIONS in tax and Bezos is one of the world&#8217;s richest men. The Met Museum is taking the PISS by having Jeff honoured as their Gala host. When they celebrate Trump’s billionaires, let’s ridicule them instead.”

Sarah Paulson

The Met Gala’s Dumbest Political Stunts

Celebrities

Fashion

The long-awaited sequel to 2006’s smash hit “The Devil Wears Prada” is getting some pushback, being accused of “blatant racism” for leaning into Asian stereotypes.
“The Devil Wears Prada 2,” starring Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep, is getting blasted over a brief moment in a trailer. The scene introduces Andy Sachs&#8217; (Hathaway) new assistant, Jin Chao, played by Helen J. Shen, who some say is portrayed as a nerdy, socially awkward Ivy League grad.
In the trailer, Andy appears reserved upon meeting Jin, prompting the assistant to quickly rattle off her credentials.
“If you don’t want me, you can interview someone else. That’s totally fine,” Jin says. “I did go to Yale, 3.86 GPA, lead soprano of [Yale singing group] the Whiffenpoofs, and my ACT score was 36 on the very first time.”
Commenters also took issue with the way Jin donned a buttoned-up collared shirt and thick glasses, which they argue feel out of place for employees at a major fashion company.
Social media users from around the world, especially in Asian countries, expressed their frustration with the clip.
“The promotion up to this point was really great, but right before release, they suddenly hit us with blatant anti-Asian racism and flipped the car,” one user in Japan wrote in a post that’s been viewed more than 16 million times.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
プラダを着た悪魔、ここまでのプロモーションめっちゃ良かったのに、公開直前に突然ド直球のアジア人差別を見せつけてきて横転 <a href="https://t.co/uNUYIzXl7U">https://t.co/uNUYIzXl7U</a>
— 黄色人種ちゃん (@dekaketu_purin) <a href="https://twitter.com/dekaketu_purin/status/2046767047435247708?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 22, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“We are in 2026… what made them think we’ll find this kind of racism funny,” another commenter <a href="https://x.com/kaxishk/status/2046919948384243754?s=20">said</a>. 
“Short stature, messy hair, childish clothing, big glasses, a ton of qualifications and high education and grades, servile and incompetent, a name that sounds just like &#8216;Ching Chang Chong,'&#8221; a third person echoed. “In this day and age, deliberately clipping out such a thick, over-the-top level of Asian stereotype that&#8217;s actually rare nowadays for ad use—did they judge that going full-on with the blatant discrimination would be more commercially appealing??”
As The Hollywood Reporter <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/devil-wears-prada-2-racism-backlash-asia-1236574540/">noted</a>, a lot of the widespread criticism is the result of X posts being automatically translated, meaning comments from around the world are being circulated in the United States.
However, some, including Korean-American filmmaker Joseph Kahn, said the backlash reflects a cultural misunderstanding and claims that Jin is so weird she’s cool, at least to a Gen Z audience. 
“There&#8217;s an uproar with Japanese Twitter about this Asian character. They feel she&#8217;s a caricature, which she is, but not about Asians but Gen Z. Her outfit is actually very couture in a film about fashion,” he <a href="https://x.com/JosephKahn/status/2047085534103932968?s=20">wrote</a>.
“Her glasses and hair clips are of the moment. The body shape disparity comes from Anne Hathaway who mandated there would be &#8216;diversity of sizes&#8217; which could either be taken as genuine virtue signaling or an actress wanting to be the skinniest and tallest onscreen. Nevertheless, the Asian character is being depicted as a fashionable, striver in the fashion world with typical Gen Z neurodivergency.”
&#8220;Nerds don&#8217;t exist in Gen Z because they&#8217;re all awkward freaks and all dress like Nintendo cartoons,” he concluded. “Anyway Japan, welcome to America.”

Devil Wears Prada 2

Long-Awaited Hollywood Sequel Is Already Making Enemies

Japan

Movies

Racism

The new Michael Jackson biopic, “Michael,” was released today, and the director of “Leaving Neverland” is not pleased.
Dan Reed is known for the 2019 HBO documentary which explored the child sexual abuse allegations against the King of Pop, who died from an overdose in 2009. Reed said he can&#8217;t understand how anyone still believes Jackson should be celebrated.
&#8220;It says that people don’t care that he was a child molester. Literally, people just don’t care,&#8221; Reed told The Hollywood Reporter in an <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/leaving-neverland-michael-jackson-dan-reed-1236571986/">interview</a> published earlier this week. &#8220;I think a lot of people just love his music and turn a deaf ear. And short of having actual video evidence of Michael Jackson engaged in sexual intercourse with a 7-year-old child, I don’t know what would be sufficient to change these people’s minds.&#8221;
“Michael” director Antoine Fuqua addressed the accusations against Jackson in an <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/04/27/antoine-fuqua-profile?_sp=3ac5f857-94bf-4ed7-9051-b555ea70fcdf.1776878032698">interview</a> with The New Yorker published Monday. &#8220;Sometimes people do some nasty things for some money,&#8221; he said of the multiple claims from victims who claimed Jackson abused them.
Reed responded to that, saying, &#8220;For Antoine Fuqua to accuse people of gold digging is kind of ironic… It seems to me all the people involved in this movie are just making bank.&#8221;
&#8220;How can you tell an authentic story about Michael Jackson without ever mentioning the fact that he was seriously accused of being a child molester?&#8221; Reed added. &#8220;I just don’t really see it. If anyone’s making money, it’s Michael Jackson’s estate and the people who worked on this biographical picture.&#8221;
“Wade and James, the protagonists of ‘Leaving Neverland,’ have never made a cent from their accusations,&#8221; Reed went on. &#8220;People don’t seem to understand: If you bring a lawsuit, you don’t get any money until you win in court. And when you win in court, that means you’ve proved your case, right?&#8221;
The “Leaving Neverland” director also accused the media of “sucking up” to the Jackson estate for fear of retribution from the fans.
&#8220;So a lot of people, I think, will kind of swallow any misgivings they may have and just sort of say, &#8216;Oh well, it’s a great jukebox movie&#8217; and just completely ignore the fact that this guy was worse than Jeffrey Epstein.&#8221;
Jackson was first accused of sexual abuse by a 13-year-old boy in 1993. That case was settled for $20 million, and the pop singer never faced criminal charges. He was arrested on child molestation charges in 2003 and was acquitted in 2005. After Jackson’s death, more alleged victims came forward and sued Jackson’s estate in 2013.
There are rumors floating around that the original version of “Michael” did address the allegations, but those parts were cut due to a clause in the original settlement that provided the story could never be the subject of a movie. Actor Colman Domingo mentioned the omission while teasing the possibility of a sequel.
“The film takes place from the ’60s to 1988, so it does not go into the first allegations,” the actor, who plays Joe Jackson in the movie, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59jEWDncv28">said</a> during a &#8220;Today&#8221; show appearance. “So basically, we centered it on the makings of Michael. So, it’s an intimate portrait of who Michael is … through his eyes.”
Domingo hinted at the &#8220;possibility&#8221; of a sequel, which he hinted would include the sexual abuse trial storyline.
“Michael” is getting mixed reviews, but is still expected to do well at the box office this weekend due to the devoted fans who will go see it no matter what.

Michael

Director Slams Michael Jackson Biopic Hype: ‘Worse Than Jeffrey Epstein’

Michael Jackson

U.S.

In a feel-good moment for movie fans, it was announced on Wednesday that puppeteer James Ortiz is eligible for a Best Supporting Actor award at next year’s Oscars, per <a href="https://variety.com/2026/film/awards/project-hail-mary-james-ortiz-oscars-sag-eligible-puppeteer-1236726540/">Variety</a>. Ortiz was the puppeteer and voice actor for the rock-shaped alien, Rocky, who became one of the best-loved parts of Amazon’s smash hit “Project Hail Mary” last month.
The film is expected to garner plenty of other nominations at the next Academy Awards, including Best Actor for Ryan Gosling, Best Picture, and Best Director. There’s no telling if the Academy will select Ortiz as a nominee even though he is technically eligible.
Variety also noted that his work could be recognized in the Special Achievement Award category, which was last given to “Toy Story” (1995).
“Typically, we talk about puppetry as a technical achievement, and it is,” Ortiz told the outlet.
“It’s a spectacle,” he added. “For me as a performer, however, that’s never my entry point. I’m interested in the heart of the character — what they’re trying to communicate, what they’re feeling underneath all of it. When we can take a medium like puppetry, which is often seen as decorative, and bring to life a character with a beating heart in a way that genuinely affects people, then we’re doing something truly meaningful.”
Ortiz previously discussed how much expertise and planning went into bringing Rocky to life. Fans of the film praised its overall authenticity, which included using a real puppet rather than relying on CGI.
“Rocky is super intelligent and has a mind like a computer — you never have to say anything twice to him,” Ortiz said of the character. “He’s a brilliant engineer. But his soul, to me, always felt like that of a little brother. There’s a little bit of this anxious, 14-year-old boy who really wants to be invited to the party.”
“What I loved about the process was at no point did [directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller] or anybody on the team ever treat me like I was a technician, or like a plumber who was brought in to fix a specific thing,” the puppeteer added. “At every point they would ask, ‘what do you think, would Rocky do this or that?’ And I’d think about it and tell them exactly how Rocky would feel.”
“Project Hail Mary” <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hollywood-learned-the-wrong-lesson-from-project-hail-mary">dominated the box office</a> last month with an $80.5 million domestic opening weekend, with a 95% critic score and a 96% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. By the second weekend, the film had crossed $300 million worldwide and became the second-biggest non-franchise opening over the past decade, second only to “Oppenheimer.”

Rocky

Everyone’s Favorite Alien Could Win An Oscar

Academy Awards

Oscars

The monoculture is dead, The Hollywood Reporter claims. Its evidence? No one watches the Oscars anymore. An article over the weekend, “The Last Time Everyone Watched the Same Thing,” highlighted the last moment everyone shared: a selfie that Bradley Cooper took at the 2014 Oscars, which instantly became the most widely-shared Tweet ever.
More than 43 million people witnessed that act of elite digital solipsism. But we should be asking: Does an iPhone snapshot that includes Ellen DeGeneres and Kevin Spacey really indicate some sort of peak? Or was it so self-absorbed and off-putting that it actually hastened a cultural shift? Whether consciously or not at the time, Americans saw that moment and thought, “This is bullsh*t.” After all, the number-one show at the time was The Big Bang Theory, which had something like 23 million weekly viewers, a sitcom about geniuses, but made for dumb people, or at least people that Hollywood thought were dumb. Good riddance, and don’t let the door hit you in the bazinga on the way out.
Look at what happened when Hollywood took one last stab at uniting us all when COVID hit. That was the age of Tiger King, a terrible documentary reality show that baked its own obsolescence into its premise. Sure, everyone watched it, but only because public entities and massive peer pressure terrified them into staying indoors.
But the ultimate mask-off moment occurred with Gal Gadot’s “Imagine” video, which just celebrated its sixth birthday. It was the cringiest thing ever created: entitled celebrities singing a dated folk song while normal people grieved the losses of loved ones, their jobs, or their regular daily routines. That was just the start of the 2020 crap parade, the worst cultural period in global history, which featured charity cast “table reads” of 1980s comedies like Fast Times at Ridgemont High and a video of Katy Perry singing “Baby Mine” from Dumbo while dressed in an elephant costume. Faced with this tsunami of garbage, people watched reruns of Columbo and Friends instead and said, &#8220;Take this monoculture and shove it.”
The traditional pipeline stopped producing. Our entertainment became YouTube and Instagram videos of people cooking stuff they’d found in the garbage. And it was fine.
Then again, maybe the article’s entire premise is flawed. The “monoculture” might actually still exist. It’s just that old metrics, like Nielsen ratings and box office grosses, don’t tell the whole story. The Hollywood Reporter mentions Stranger Things, but what about Squid Game? Or Mr. Beast? The Minecraft movie was a massive cultural phenomenon, as were the Super Mario Bros. films. If the monoculture is dead, then how did KPop Demon Hunters take over the Oscars this year?
Let’s not denigrate the traditional monoculture era. It brought us Back to the Future, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Empire Strikes Back, Cheers, the golden age of The Simpsons, Yo! MTV Raps, Seinfeld, Thriller, Legally Blonde, and many other entertainment products serving infinite pleasure. All that material is still out there, swirling around, and much of it is still watchable and good. Young people still listen to ’80s music and know what a flux capacitor is; they can still pick Donkey Kong out of a police lineup. It’s just that we’re not all watching the same thing all the time. As the title of an Oscar-winning movie — which was not part of the monoculture — goes, it’s everything, everywhere, all at once.
Besides, we don’t all need to be watching the same thing. The era when 90 million or so people saw BJ say “Goodbye” to Hawkeye on M.A.S.H. is more distant from today’s reality than V-J Day was from the 1970s. It has no relevance. Our world is more atomized, more diverse, and less dependent on traditional gatekeepers than ever. Maybe the death of the monoculture is a good thing. Imagine.
***
Neal Pollack is the author of 12 semi-bestselling books of fiction and nonfiction and is a three-time Jeopardy! champion.

86th Annual Academy Awards – Show

If The Monoculture Is Dead, Should We Be Cheering Its Demise?

Culture

DW Opinion

The Apple TV series “The Savant,” which was postponed in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, is now apparently going to have its debut.
The series was scheduled to premiere in September 2025, but that all changed after Kirk was shot during a speaking event at Utah Valley University. “The Savant” follows an undercover investigator, Jodi Goodwin (Jessica Chastain), who infiltrates online hate groups in an attempt to curtail mass terror attacks.
Because this is Hollywood, the main character, who is based on a real person, mostly hunts for woman-hating white supremacists. Daily Wire contributor Christian Toto <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/we-watched-appletvs-cancelled-political-drama-its-clear-why-they-pulled-it">previewed</a> the series and said it was “ripped from a progressive’s fever dream, a tale completely disconnected from today’s headlines.”
“Before it was like, ‘I don’t know if we’re going to see it,’ but now I can say, ‘We’re going to see it,” Chastain <a href="https://variety.com/2026/tv/columns/jessica-chastain-apple-tv-finally-release-the-savant-after-postponement-charlie-kirk-assassination-1236725384/">told</a> Variety at an event on Saturday night. The outlet did not confirm an exact date, but they reported that inside sources said it would happen in July.
Apple TV announced the postponement on September 23. Chastain, who is an executive producer, posted on Instagram the following day that she did not agree with Apple TV&#8217;s decision to pull the show due to Kirk’s assassination. 
“In the last five years since we’ve been making the show, we’ve seen an unfortunate amount of violence in the United States,” she <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/apple-postpones-drama-on-political-mass-shootings-following-charlie-kirk-assassination">wrote</a> on social media at the time before going on to list various events, including January 6 and the assassination attempts on President Donald Trump. 
“These incidents, though far from encompassing the full range of violence witnessed in the United States, illustrate a broader mindset that crosses the political spectrum and must be confronted. I’ve never shied away from difficult subjects, and while I wish this show wasn’t so relevant, unfortunately it is. ‘The Savant’ is about the heroes who work every day to stop violence before it happens, and honoring their courage feels more urgent than ever.”

The_Savant_Photo_010301

Leftist ‘Fever Dream’ Series Plows Ahead Despite Massive Conservative Backlash

Apple

Charlie Kirk

Political Violence

Woke Hollywood is dead, or so we thought.
The new trailer for “Ladies First” is proof that La La Land won’t give up the woke ghost.
Sacha Baron Cohen, who traded his subversive “Borat” shtick for the <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/borat-subsequent-moviefilm-review/">anti-Trump Resistance</a>, stars as a chauvinist who suffers a blow to the head and wakes up in a new reality.
Forget the patriarchy. The matriarchy now runs things in this May 22 Netflix original. The laugh-free trailer is bad enough, but the sight of Borat leaning into feminist clichés is worse.
And it’s far from alone. That “woke mind virus” is on the comeback trail.
<div id="attachment_1080199" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1080199" class="size-large wp-image-1080199" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Ladies-Night-864x576.jpg" alt="Rob Youngson/Netflix - copyright 2026 Netflix, Inc." width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Ladies-Night-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Ladies-Night-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Ladies-Night-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Ladies-Night-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Ladies-Night-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Ladies-Night-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Ladies-Night.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Rob Youngson/Netflix &#8211; copyright 2026 Netflix, Inc.</div>
The proof that woke was on the run felt substantial. Real. Refreshing. Comedians were suddenly able to speak their minds without fear of reprisal. Comedy roasts made a shocking comeback, and Netflix couldn’t wait to line up rebel comics like Tony Hinchcliffe, Tim Dillon, Ricky Gervais and Shane Gillis for new projects.
Disney, the unofficial woke standard bearer, dialed down the messaging machine. The Disney+ series “Win or Lose” ditched a trans character. Big-budget releases like “Moana 2” and “Inside Out 2” left the lectures on the cutting room floor — and scored huge box office numbers along the way.
More recently, Disney-owned Pixar chief Pete Docter said his company <a href="https://variety.com/2026/film/news/pete-docter-pixar-lgbtq-storyline-elio-therapy-1236681692/">removed LGBTQ content</a> from 2025’s “Elio” because “We’re making a movie, not hundreds of millions of dollars of therapy.”
Lesson learned. Or was it?
<div id="attachment_1080169" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1080169" class="size-large wp-image-1080169" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-2219557935-864x576.jpg" alt="LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 10: (L-R) Jim Morris, President, Pixar and Pete Docter, CCO, Pixar attend the World Premiere of Disney and Pixar's &quot;Elio&quot; at El Capitan Theatre on June 10, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney/Pixar)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-2219557935-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-2219557935-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-2219557935-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-2219557935.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney/Pixar</div>
That “Ladies First” trailer feels like it came from a 2020 time capsule. So does “Starfleet Academy.” The latest “Star Trek” TV show got roundly mocked on social media and by YouTube cutups like Nerdrotic and The Critical Drinker, who combined have millions of followers.
The show featured a charcuterie board full of woke, from the barefoot captain curling up in her chair like a Portland librarian to a gay, cross-dressing Klingon.
Mainstream critics, who lean aggressively to the Left, praised the show while audiences stayed away in droves. The show’s second season was set in motion immediately, but the <a href="https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/star-trek-starfleet-academy-canceled-season-2-1236696816/">cancellation news came nearly as fast.</a>
Hulu just dropped a new mini-season of “Malcolm in the Middle,” the early 2000s hit about a quirky, dysfunctional clan. The streamer knew it had a nostalgia-fueled hit on its hands, which may be why <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/malcolm-in-the-middle-reboot-hit-with-backlash-over-woke-changes">the creators gave</a> the clan Kelly, a “non-binary” child.
Just a coincidence? Hardly. Executive producer Tracy Katsy told Deadline.com the <a href="https://deadline.com/2026/04/malcolm-in-the-middle-creator-ep-wife-lgbtq-kids-1236786214/">reason for the inclusion angle</a>.
“Three out of four of our kids are queer, and without making it a thing and without making an issue, I think it’s really nice to have a character that, that’s just a facet of their personality as opposed to the entire story.”
<div id="attachment_1080171" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1080171" class="size-large wp-image-1080171" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-2270286421-864x576.jpg" alt="NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 07: (L-R) Christopher Masterson, Justin Berfield, Vaughan Murrae, Jane Kaczmarek, Frankie Muniz, Bryan Cranston, Keeley Karsten, Kiana Madeira, Caleb Ellsworth-Clark, Emy Coligado and Craig Lamar Traylor attend Hulu's &quot;Malcolm in The Middle: Life's Still Unfair&quot; New York Premiere at DGA Theater on April 07, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-2270286421-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-2270286421-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-2270286421-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-2270286421.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Theo Wargo/Getty Images</div>
The diversity measure came with the de facto lecture sequence, too, along with the Mary Sue-style characterization.
Kelly uses &#8220;they/them&#8221; and is depicted as academically gifted, level-headed, and notably the only sibling without a police record.
No flaws, please. That’s another woke byproduct, removing flaws from characters meant to promote diversity and inclusion.
The show also made Stevie (Craig Lamar Traylor), who displayed heterosexual characteristics in the original series, a gay man in an interracial relationship.
The new action comedy “Normal” also squeezes a “non-binary” character into the story, played by Jess McLeod. The character, dubbed Alex, is given little backstory or depth, but Alex still plays a sizable role in the film’s second half.
This year’s “Frankenstein” reinvention, dubbed “The Bride!” featured a cavalcade of woke talking points. The titular creature inspired a wave of rebellious women fighting back against early 20th century oppression, and Jessie Buckley’s Bride literally shouts, “Me too” … twice.
And, yes, “The Bride!” may be one of 2026’s biggest box office busts with <a href="https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt30851137/?ref_=bo_se_r_1">a pathetic $12 million domestic haul.</a>
Woke isn’t just about forced, clumsy inclusion. It coaxes screenwriters to lecture viewers from a hard-Left perspective. No nuance or balance, please. There’s a PowerPoint-style message to share. It’s why shows like “Matlock” and “The Pitt” have spent serious screen time pushing an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hollywood-keeps-pushing-this-narrative-but-ignores-what-follows">aggressive, anti-ICE narrative</a> in recent weeks.
“The Pitt” also promotes an unabashed, pro-abortion agenda. The HBO Max series featured an episode with a 17-year-old pregnant teen (Abby Ryder Fortson) seeking an abortion, but she didn’t have her parents’ consent.
<div id="attachment_1080173" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1080173" class="size-large wp-image-1080173" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/pitt-noah-elevator-1024x568.jpg" alt="John Wells Productions. Max. R. Scott Gemmill Productions. Sky Studios. Warner Bros. Television. HBO Max." width="1024" height="568" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/pitt-noah-elevator-1024x568.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/pitt-noah-elevator-300x166.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/pitt-noah-elevator-768x426.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/pitt-noah-elevator-1536x851.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/pitt-noah-elevator.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />John Wells Productions. Max. R. Scott Gemmill Productions. Sky Studios. Warner Bros. Television. HBO Max.</div>
The baby in question is more than 11 weeks along, just beyond Pennsylvania’s cutoff for a legal abortion. Dr. Robby (Noah Wyle) stepped in, offering to fudge the facts to secure the abortion in question. The doctors agreed that the teen deserves to have a life, as they framed it, ignoring the positive impacts of motherhood or potentially giving up the innocent baby for adoption.
The creative team behind “The Pitt” is leaning into the show’s ratings success, weaponizing the saga to advance leftist talking points as needed. It’s another familiar woke pattern — Hollywood finds success with an apolitical show or film, and later leverages that appeal to insert woke talking points.
One glaring example? Even a far-Left site like <a href="https://www.themarysue.com/endgame-girl-power-did-it-work/">TheMarySue.com cringed</a> when the once-mighty Marvel Cinematic Universe included a clunky, “girl power” moment during the epic “Avengers: Endgame” battle.
The MCU saga went woke thereafter and has yet to recover, financially speaking.
Despite these stark examples, woke isn’t the cultural force in Hollywood that it was just a few short years ago. Some savvy studio types realized that its cultural tentacles remain a financial risk, to put it bluntly.
Others are like <a href="https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20220413-onoda-the-man-who-hid-in-the-jungle-for-30-years">Hiroo Onoda</a>, the Japanese soldier who kept fighting World War II for nearly 29 years after hostilities ceased.
That means it could take a few more high-profile failures for Hollywood to finally learn its lesson.
* * *
Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic, and editor of <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. Follow him at <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>.

netflix ladies night II

Woke Hollywood Rises From The Ashes — And The Agenda Didn’t Miss A Beat

Woke Hollywood Rises From The Ashes — And The Agenda Didn't Miss A Beat

Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

HBO Max

Netflix

Woke Culture

More than 1,000 celebrities, many of whom are overwhelmingly leftist, expressed their “unequivocal opposition” to the upcoming merger between Warner Bros. and Paramount.
Actors Bryan Cranston, Alyssa Milano, Cynthia Nixon, Jane Fonda, Kathy Griffin, Rosie O’Donnell, Glenn Close, Ben Stiller, Don Cheadle, Jason Bateman, and Ted Danson added their names to the letter, along with big-name directors like J.J. Abrams, David Chase, and Denis Villeneuve.
“This transaction would further consolidate an already concentrated media landscape, reducing competition at a moment when our industries — and the audiences we serve — can least afford it,” the <a href="https://blockthemerger.com/openletter">letter</a> says. “The result will be fewer opportunities for creators, fewer jobs across the production ecosystem, higher costs, and less choice for audiences in the United States and around the world. Alarmingly, this merger would reduce the number of major U.S. film studios to just four.”
It goes on, “We are deeply concerned by indications of support for this merger that prioritize the interests of a small group of powerful stakeholders over the broader public good. The integrity, independence, and diversity of our industry would be grievously compromised.”
The letter ends with a call to action, namely that California Attorney General Rob Bonta and other regulators block the deal.
Paramount released a <a href="https://deadline.com/2026/04/paramount-warner-bros-merger-creatives-letter-1236859235/">response</a> Monday morning. They promised to “create a company that can greenlight more projects, back bold ideas, support talent across multiple stages of their careers, and bring stories to audiences at a truly global scale.”
“We hear and understand the concerns that some in our creative community have raised and respect the commitment to protecting and expanding creativity,” their letter states. 
“We understand the concerns raised as a result of the disruptions caused to our industry by COVID, entry of big-tech, and changes in consumer behavior, but we promise this: Paramount remains deeply committed to talent, and this merger strengthens both consumer choice and competition, creating greater opportunities for creators, audiences, and the communities they live and work in.”
Warner Bros. agreed in December to an $82.7 billion deal with Netflix. Paramount responded with several hostile takeover bids over the following months, culminating in a surprise twist as the streaming giant bowed out in February.
“… this transaction was always a ‘nice to have’ at the right price, not a ‘must have’ at any price,” Sarandos and Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters said in a statement at the time, as The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/netflix-backs-down-in-fight-for-warner-bros-leaving-paramount-inches-from-victory">reported</a>.

Paramount

Woke Hollywood Stars Rally To Kill Major Studio Deal

Warner Bros

“Malcolm in the Middle” fans are trashing the series reboot, saying it went totally woke to the point of including a “non-binary” child, among other crimes against the original.
The shoehorning of modern leftist elements into a beloved series should come as no surprise, especially since it’s coming from a company like Disney, which now owns the show through its acquisition of 21st Century Fox, the studio behind the original.
“Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair” debuted four back-to-back episodes on Friday, and due to the busy schedules of the cast, there won’t be any more. The latest episodes follow the titular star (played by Frankie Muniz) after he’s all grown up and has grown apart from his family. 
The original series, which ran from 2000 to 2006, focused on Malcolm, an exceptionally intelligent child who made his way through life with a dysfunctional family. The sitcom was a massive hit, winning seven Emmy Awards and attracting a cult following.
It ended with family matriarch Lois (Jane Kaczmarek) finding out she’s pregnant. “Breaking Bad” star Bryan Cranston played the dad, and reprises his role in “Life’s Still Unfair,” too. Their surprise child, Kelly, is a teenager in the new version and uses they/them pronouns. The actor playing the part, Vaughan Murrae, identifies as &#8220;non-binary&#8221; in real life, too. Stevie Kenarban, who was Malcolm&#8217;s best friend in the original series, is depicted as gay in the reboot.
Many fans are not happy about the changes. 
“So. Disney brings Back [‘Malcolm in the Middle’], which ended decades ago with a proper send off. They made Stevie gay, despite him crushing on Malcolm’s babysitter, pretending to be in critical condition to get another girl to like him, there’s stacking amounts of evidence proving he likes girls,” one popular reaction on X <a href="https://x.com/anime_esh202/status/2043078136976273667?s=43">says</a>. 
“And the child Hal and Lois had at the very end is, wait for it……..non binary. If you had even a shred of hope that you were going to ‘relive the glory days’ you were kidding yourself… Don’t waste your time, it’s modern Disney being modern Disney again, and again, and again!”
“What a disgusting, soul-crushing disappointment,” another viral reaction <a href="https://x.com/FloppingAces/status/2042954425137009066">said</a>. “It&#8217;s absolute trash. No laughs. No chaos. No nostalgia. Just four episodes of pointless, preachy slop that feels like it was written by a committee of blue-haired Disney interns who hate straight families and actual comedy.”
“Woke isn&#8217;t gone. It&#8217;s just suppressed for the moment,” another person <a href="https://x.com/IamSvented/status/2043008792191816182">agreed</a>. “They will be back the moment they get the political support they need, and they will be angry, and they will be in full-on retribution mode.”
Show creator Linwood Boomer and his wife, executive producer Tracy Katsky, said they drew inspiration from their personal lives. 
“I gotta tell you, it’s a really important thing to us,” Katsky <a href="https://deadline.com/2026/04/malcolm-in-the-middle-creator-ep-wife-lgbtq-kids-1236786214/">told</a> Deadline during a recent interview just ahead of the reboot’s premiere. 
“Three out of four of our kids are queer, and without making it a thing and without making an issue, I think it’s really nice to have a character that, that’s just a facet of their personality as opposed to the entire story.”

Life’s Still Unfair

‘Malcolm In The Middle’ Reboot Hit With Backlash Over ‘Woke’ Changes

Bryan Cranston

Disney

Non-binary

Wokeness

Some belated sequels crash and burn on arrival. Think “Zoolander 2,” “Blues Brothers 2000,” “Terminator: Dark Fate” and “Independence Day: Resurgence.”
All duds or box office disappointments.
“The Devil Wears Prada 2” won’t suffer that fate, despite the 20-year gap between the two films. In fact, the sequel might mimic another recent blockbuster that lured women back to theaters in droves.
The 2023 smash “Barbie.”
That film wasn’t just a box office juggernaut. It convinced women to dress up in the grand Barbie tradition to enjoy the experience with their best gal pals. It became a cultural flashpoint, a chance to bond over childhood memories and sisterhood.
Will “Prada 2” be a spiritual sequel to that mega-hit?
<div id="attachment_1076167" style="width: 399px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1076167" class="size-large wp-image-1076167" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Prada-2-389x576.jpg" alt="Photo by 20th Century Studios/20TH CENTURY STUDIOS - copyright: 2026 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved. IMDB." width="389" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Prada-2-389x576.jpg 389w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Prada-2-202x300.jpg 202w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Prada-2-768x1138.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Prada-2-1037x1536.jpg 1037w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Prada-2.jpg 1086w" sizes=" (max-width: 389px) 100vw, 389px" />Photo by 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.</div>
The safest bet is “absolutely.” Box Office Pro predicts the sequel will <a href="https://www.boxofficepro.com/long-range-forecast-may-box-office-kicks-off-with-the-devil-wears-prada-2-animal-farm-hokum/">land in the $80-95 million range</a>, a hefty debut for a comedy. Word of mouth might do the rest.
For contrast, the original scored $27.5 million over a Fourth of July weekend.
Why the optimism? Let’s start with the film’s first teaser, which didn’t share much in its brief running time. The <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMd1at7OwiE">under-60 second</a> clip became last year&#8217;s <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2025/12/24/anticipated-sequels-and-remakes-dominated-the-years-most-watched-movie-trailers/">most viewed trailer</a>, more than sneak peeks at “Sinners,” “Superman” or “A Minecraft Movie.”
That’s despite the original film’s solid but hardly massive $124 million at the U.S. box office (globally, it brought in a hefty $323 million). Yet we had to wait 20 years for a sequel, despite the rising star status of featured players Anne Hathaway (as put-upon assistant Andy) and Emily Blunt as the exasperated Emily.
A new Fandango poll shows “Prada 2” as <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DW4NzTbCZfA/">the third most anticipated film of the summer</a>, behind “Toy Story 5” and “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.”
The sequel reunites them with Oscar-winner Meryl Streep as the venomous Miranda Priestly and Stanley Tucci. The May 1 release finds Miranda struggling to keep up with the digital age, something that wasn’t a major issue in the original yarn inspired by Lauren Weisberger’s bestselling novel.
<div id="attachment_1076173" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1076173" class="size-large wp-image-1076173" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Prada-2-1-864x576.jpg" alt="Photo by 20th Century Studios/20TH CENTURY STUDIOS - copyright: 2026 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved. IMDB." width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Prada-2-1-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Prada-2-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Prada-2-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Prada-2-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Prada-2-1-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Prada-2-1-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Prada-2-1.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Photo by 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved. IMDB.</div>
The marketing team behind the sequel is keeping most of the details under wraps, a wise move.
The sequel does expand the original cast, adding Kenneth Branagh, “Bridgerton’s” Simone Ashley, Lucy Liu, Justin Theroux, B.J. Novak and Pauline Chalamet.
So why is “The Devil Wears Prada 2” not a sign of Hollywood desperation but a sly acknowledgement of what audiences crave?
Some movies simply grow over the years, boosted by streaming access and stories that speak to something profound within us.
The technology in the original “Prada” may be dated — remember that screeching pager tune whenever Miranda needed Andy’s help? The themes, by contrast, are timeless.
“The Devil Wears Prada” nailed the hopes and dreams of young women who flirt with a brand of fame that can be intoxicating. Andy didn’t care about fashion until she worked within the industry 24/7. And, when she got her hands on some of the clothes collecting in her company’s closet, she was hooked.
And she looked fabulous.
Audiences got lost in Andy’s “Pygmalion”-like makeover. We’ll look past the running gag that Andy was both frumpy and overweight at the film’s start. Hathaway has always been lithe and lovely.
<div id="attachment_1076201" style="width: 879px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1076201" class="size-large wp-image-1076201" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Prada-2006-869x576.jpg" alt="Copyright: TM and2006 Twentieth Century Fox. All rights reserved." width="869" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Prada-2006-869x576.jpg 869w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Prada-2006-300x199.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Prada-2006-768x509.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Prada-2006-1536x1019.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Prada-2006.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 869px) 100vw, 869px" />Copyright: TM and2006 Twentieth Century Fox. All rights reserved.</div>
And as much as the Left wants to deny biology, women by and large want to look beautiful in the best fashions possible. It’s why those “Sex and the City” films featured Carrie Bradshaw luxuriating in that monstrous, overstuffed closet.
It’s pure escapism.
Plus, we’ve all had bosses as demanding as Streep’s Miranda Priestly, even if they couldn’t chill us with one withering look. Yes, she was a monster, but who couldn’t admire her drive, talent and ruthless efficiently? It helped that Streep’s performance epitomized the power of the softly spoken villain.
She could destroy someone with a lifted eyebrow or well-manicured insult. The fact that Andy survived her chronic attacks, growing stronger by the day, proved intoxicating.
And then there’s poor Adrien Grenier. He played Hathaway’s frustrated beau in the original film, but he won’t be back for an encore. Could the <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/morganmurrell/anne-hathaway-responded-devil-wears-prada-nate-theory">negative memes</a> around his character be to blame? Or the fact that Grenier opted out of Hollywood, Inc. in the intervening years following his “Entourage” closeup?
That’s showbiz. So is Hollywood’s occasional ability to give audiences what they want. Yes, the industry will crank out woke reboots and insult audiences when they’re summarily rejected.
See “Starfleet Academy” for Exhibit A.
Nostalgia still sells, and movie studios know it. The original “Prada” arrived at a time when culture war battles didn’t distract us from our daily lives. The film lacked the gerrymandered diversity casting we too often see today.
No lectures. No “you go, girl” feminist talking points to stop the movie cold. Andy struggled with being Miranda’s assistant, but her intelligence and wit eventually made her an invaluable part of the Runway magazine team.
But did she sell her soul in the process? Her beau thought so, but audiences had her back from start to finish.
And they’ll have it again soon enough.
<div id="attachment_1076185" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1076185" class="size-large wp-image-1076185" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-2270419682-864x576.jpg" alt="SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - APRIL 08: Meryl Streep attends &quot;The Devil Wears Prada 2&quot; Seoul Premiere at Times Square on April 08, 2026 in Seoul, South Korea. (Photo by Han Myung-Gu/WireImage)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-2270419682-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-2270419682-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-2270419682-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-2270419682.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Han Myung-Gu/WireImage</div>
The film is guaranteed a big opening weekend, but the only way to dampen the box office potential is to lean into Hollywood’s worst impulses. Identity Politics. Speeches. Political asides that erupt out of the blue.
Or, the film’s stars will use “Prada’s” publicity tour to politicize the film. Streep is already attempting just that by <a href="https://radaronline.com/p/meryl-streep-slams-melania-trump-controversial-jacket/">insulting fashion icon turned First Lady Melania Trump</a>.
Some movies are critic-proof. “The Devil Wears Prada 2” is both critic and culture war proof, assuming Hollywood can get out of its own way.
* * *
Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic, and editor of <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. Follow him at <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>.

“The Devil Wears Prada 2” Press Conference & Seoul Premiere

Why ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ Could Succeed Where Woke Hollywood Keeps Failing

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Meryl Streep

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