❌

Normal view

There are new articles available, click to refresh the page.
Before yesterdayMain stream

'The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives' season 2 is here. Here's a timeline of Taylor Frankie Paul and Dakota Mortensen's relationship.

A still from "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" featuring Dakota Mortensen in a plaid brown shirt and brown pants hugging his partner Taylor Frankie Paul, who is in a brown dress, while they sit on two green chairs.
Dakota Mortensen and Taylor Frankie Paul dated for two years and share a child.

Fred Hayes / Disney

  • Taylor Frankie Paul and Dakota Mortensen are two of the stars of "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives."
  • They began dating in 2022, a few months after Taylor split from her ex-husband amid a swinging scandal.
  • Warning: Spoilers ahead for "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" season two.

"The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" season two confirms that Taylor Frankie Paul and Dakota Mortensen are no longer together.

The fan-favorite couple are core cast members of the hit reality show, which follows the lives of Taylor and seven other influencers, known collectively as the Mormon MomTokers.

The show, which gives a glimpse into their unique lives, was the most-watched premiere of any unscripted show on Hulu in 2024, The Wrap reported.

After the first season ended, the drama spilled online as the cast argued and rumors spread that Taylor and Dakota had split.

In the first episode of season two, which aired on Hulu on Thursday, Dakota and Taylor take a break from their relationship and permanently separate in episode nine.

Here's what to know about their relationship.

May 2022: Taylor says that she and her ex-husband are divorcing.

Taylor announced in a May 2022 TikTok that she and her husband at the time, Tate Paul, were divorcing.

"In my twenties, getting divorced, started therapy, living on my own for the first time ever along with two little kids," she wrote in the text overlay of the video.

@taylorfrankiepaul

An unfortunate announcement

♬ Malibu - Miley Cyrus

Shortly after, Taylor said in an Instagram live video that she and Tate had been "soft swinging" with friends. The incident sparked a viral scandal and eventually led to the creation of "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives."

July 2022: Taylor and Dakota go public with their relationship

@taylorfrankiepaul Replying to @douggrahmann I will not be sharing this one @Dakota Mortensen ♬ original sound - 🀞

Taylor posted a TikTok video with Dakota two months later, introducing him as her new partner.

"I will not be sharing this one," she wrote in the caption, tagging him.

November 2022: Taylor opens up her ectopic pregnancy

In a November 2022 TikTok, Taylor revealed that she had been pregnant with Dakota's child, but was told it was ectopic. An ectopic pregnancy occurs when a fertilized egg attaches outside the uterus, and the fetus isn't able to survive.

After the diagnosis, Taylor said in the video that she "was treated" and was no longer pregnant.

February 2023: Taylor is arrested over domestic violence

A still from "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" of Taylor Frankie Paul smiling in a cream dress.
Taylor Frankie Paul was arrested while filming the first episode of "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives."

Disney / Pamela Littky

Taylor was arrested in connection with a domestic violence incident on February 17, 2023, the Herriman City Police Department said.

The series premiere of "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" shows footage from the incident involving Taylor and Dakota, and her arrest.

A police officer from the department said in a written testimony included in court documents that the video shows Taylor throwing metal stools at Dakota, one of which hits her daughter, Indy, and stikes Dakota, E! News reported.

Taylor said on the Viall Files podcast in September 2024 that while the police report says that one of the chairs hit her daughter, "it might have not hit her at all." Police said that a detective was informed the child had a "goose-egg" injury on her head, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.

Dakota told the Daily Mail on February 23, 2023, that Taylor would never "hurt anyone intentionally."

"She's a good mom, she's going through a lot in her life right now. Taylor's been struggling, it's been a hard year for her. She is racked with guilt on her cheating scandal that cost her her marriage," he said.

In March of that year, Taylor was charged with two felony counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child, one felony count of aggravated assault, and one misdemeanor count of child abuse and criminal mischief.

The Salt Lake Tribune reported in August 2023 that Taylor entered a plea in abeyance to the aggravated assault felony charge, while the other charges were dismissed.

Under the terms of her plea agreement, Taylor was given a three-year probation.

June 2023: Taylor confirms that she and Dakota are still together

Taylor posted a TikTok in June 2023, confirming that she and Dakota were still dating.

Sometime that summer, Taylor became pregnant with her and Dakota's first child.

March 2024: Taylor gives birth to her and Dakota's son

Taylor announced in April 2024 that she and Dakota had welcomed a son together.

"Ever True was born March 19th, 6lbs 15oz a week early and we've had the best two weeks with him. We all love you so much, thank you for blending our family," she wrote in the post's caption.

"Dakota, he was such a good partner in the process and very supportive," Taylor said in a "Mormon Wives" confessional about her birth. "I'm like, on cloud nine, and this is like the first time I've been so confident in us, in a future. I just β€”Β I hope that I can trust him."

September 2024: Taylor and Dakota share their relationship problems on 'The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives'

the cast of the secret lives of mormon wives, eight young women, wearing red dresses and posing together in front of white couches.
The cast of "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives."

Disney/Ashley Rose Ramirez

The first season of the show, which premiered in September 2024 but was filmed from 2022 to 2024, focuses heavily on Taylor and Dakota's relationship, particularly in the late stages of her pregnancy.

That season, Dakota wants to get married, but Taylor is reluctant, citing a lack of trust. He is also unhappy that Taylor goes to a Chippendales show in Las Vegas.

The other source of conflict for the couple is fellow Mormon Momtoker Mayci Neeley, who is skeptical of Dakota in season one. She says an anonymous woman on Instagram told her she was with Dakota while he and Taylor were dating, but didn't know about the relationship.

In the season one finale, Taylor meets the woman, named Jenna, to learn the truth.

September 4, 2024: Taylor says she's upset with Dakota for hooking up with Jenna behind her back

On September 4, 2024, Taylor appeared on "The Viall Files" and said she was insecure about her relationship with Dakota because he had canceled plans with her to hook up with Jenna.

"It's not about Jenna. It's not. It's about me feeling insecure," she said.

Taylor said Dakota apologized, but she "cannot let it go" and was getting therapy to work through her insecurity.

"He's a good man, and I do want to marry him. That's the goal, but I feel like I just need some self-work before," Taylor said.

September β€” February 2024: Rumors spread that Dakota and Taylor have split

Some fans began to speculate that the couple had broken up a little over two weeks after the show premiered on Hulu.

"Not me slowly morphing into 2022 me," Taylor wrote in the on-screen caption of a TikTok video posted on September 21, 2024, that showed her dancing and appearing to cry.

@taylorfrankiepaul

Plz no. We don’t want her back.

♬ original sound - 🎢

Other "Mormon Wives" cast members provided their support in the comments.

Dakota commented beneath a TikTok video that said the couple had split with: "Stay tuned…"

Taylor told Us Weekly in an interview held before the breakup rumors and published on September 23, 2024, that she and Dakota were working on their relationship. Taylor added that Dakota wasn't happy with how the show presented him.

"We are not fully together, but not fully done. I don't know what the future holds with him and I," Taylor said.

In October and November 2024, Taylor and Dakota shared videos of each other, implying they had made amends. But by December 2024, they went back to posting cryptic videos alluding to a split, including Dakota sharing a video about moving to a new house alone.

May 2025: Season two of "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" shows the pair have separated

A still of "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" showing Dakota Mortensen and Taylor Frankie Paul wearing casual clothing on a couch.
Dakota Mortensen and Taylor Frankie Paul go to a couples therapy session in season two of "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives," amid their temporary breakup.

Disney+

In February, Taylor began posting that she was a single mom, seemingly confirming that she and Dakota had broken up.

Season two of "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives," which seemed to have been filmed between October 2024 and January 2025, delves into the breakup. In the first episode, Taylor says she was considering marrying Dakota until she found out about the cheating rumors from Mayci.

Later that episode, Taylor meets with Jenna and sees texts that suggest Dakota lied about when he hung out with her and how far they took their relationship. Jenna says Dakota also downplayed his relationship with Taylor, which he said he used to boost his social media presence.

After learning this, Taylor says she wants to separate from Dakota temporarily, and he moves out.

In later episodes, they try couples therapy and talk with family and friends. Taylor struggles to move past the hurt, and says it brought up past trauma related to her biological father not wanting a relationship with her.

The couple continues to have sex until episode seven, when Dakota gives Taylor an ultimatum to commit to their relationship or split. By episode nine, Taylor decides to break up for the sake of her children.

"I do feel peace in that decision," Taylor says. "I do not see me ever getting back with Dakota."

It appears they are still over, as Taylor posted a TikTok on Monday stating that she will be the first ex of Dakota who won't try to get back with him.

@taylorfrankiepaul

Looks like I’ll be your first. Didn’t your ex go as far as dating another guy named β€œDakota”?

♬ original sound - vianckaπŸ‘±πŸ½β€β™€οΈ

Dakota later shared a TikTok with the on-screen caption that Taylor hits him up every night and plays "constant mind games" with him.

A representative for Taylor did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Read the original article on Business Insider

'The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives' season 2 trailer teases the scandalous return of a former MomTok member

22 April 2025 at 17:00
The cast of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives season 2 stand in white dresses in water in front of mountains.
The cast of "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" season two.

Hulu

  • Hulu's "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" follows a group of Mormon mothers and TikTok creators.
  • When season two premieres May 15, a new MomTok member joins the group.
  • Here's everything we know about season two, from the trailer to the cast and plot.

"The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" is officially one of Hulu's biggest reality hits β€”Β and it will soon be back for more episodes.

The reality series follows a group of eight Mormon mothers and content creators who are part of a TikTok collective known as "MomTok." In May 2022, one of the moms, Taylor Frankie Paul, said on TikTok that she and her husband, Tate Paul, were divorcing after she slept with another person in their "soft swinging" circle without her husband's knowledge.

The controversy thrust MomTok into the spotlight β€” and eventually, it led to a television series.

The series also stars fellow MomTok members Whitney Leavitt, Layla Taylor, Demi Engemann, Jessi Ngatikaura, Jen Affleck, Mikayla Matthews, and Mayci Neeley. According to Hulu, the show was the streamer's most-watched unscripted series of 2024.

The drama is set to continue on Hulu in season two, which premieres on May 15 with 10 episodes. Here's what we know.

'The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives' season 2 cast includes one new member

the cast of the secret lives of mormon wives, eight young women, wearing red dresses and posing together in front of white couches.
The cast of "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives."

Disney/Ashley Rose Ramirez

All eight of the season one moms are confirmed to return. That's Taylor Frankie Paul, Mayci Neeley, Whitney Leavitt, Layla Taylor, Demi Engemann, Jessi Ngatikaura, Jen Affleck, and Mikayla Matthews.

There's also one new member of the cast, Miranda McWhorter, who's introduced in the trailer as Taylor's former best friend who was involved in the swinging scandal.

In the clip, she promises to "set the record straight" on what really happened between them.

While the end of season one made both Whitney and Jen's futures on the show unclear β€” Whitney was seemingly on the outs after she left the MomTok group chat, and Jen ended the season planning to move to New York with her husband Zac β€” it appears that both will be back as full-time cast members.

Whitney's plot line this season could focus on making her way back into the fold and reconciling with the group. "Whitney wants back in MomTok," Jessi says in the trailer.

Meanwhile, Jen and Zac's relationship has taken many turns since the end of season one. Both are seen in the trailer fighting about their relationship, and both appear to be back in Utah β€” not New York.

On social media, Jen has been open about their struggles. She and Zac also announced in February that she's pregnant with their third child, so chances are we'll see what led the couple there this season.

The season 2 trailer for 'The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives' teases more male strippers and baby daddy drama

During the show's first season, Taylor and her boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen, prepared to welcome their first child, Ever True, while also working on their relationship. In episode six, Mayci shared that she received an anonymous tip on Instagram from a woman who said that she and Dakota had slept together while he and Taylor were in a relationship, which she wasn't aware of.

The revelation ended on a cliffhanger in season one, but the season two trailer suggests that Taylor and Dakota's relationship is still rocky.

"Things are just getting worse," Taylor says in the trailer when asked about Dakota. "I do worry about Dakota's sobriety."

The male strippers that nearly ruined Jen and Zac's relationship in Las Vegas may be returning for season two β€” or, at least, somebody dressed as a stripper at a Halloween party where Jen is seen grimacing during a lap dance.

Still, as Demi says in an interview, "The show must go on."

We'll see exactly what unfolds when season two of "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" premieres May 15 on Hulu.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Mason and Meg didn't leave 'Love Is Blind' engaged, but their relationship might have continued after the pods

21 February 2025 at 12:45
left: meg from love is blind, wearing a strappy orange dress and wearing her hair loose and curly. she's miling with a hand on her hip; right: mason from love is blind, wearing a white tshirt and blue blazer, smiling with his arms crossed
Meg and Mason share a connection in the pods on "Love Is Blind" season eight.

Adam Rose/Netflix

  • "Love Is Blind" season eight features singles from the Twin Cities area.
  • Mason and Meg shared a connection in the pods but didn't get engaged on the show.
  • A new teaser for the rest of the season shows they may have gotten back together.

Warning: Major spoilers ahead for the first nine episodes of "Love Is Blind" season eight.

"Love Is Blind" is a Netflix series that has resulted in at least a few marriages β€”Β but not everyone meets their beloved.

The show's eighth season features singles from the Twin Cities area, bringing the franchise back to the heartland of the United States. Since it first launched in 2020, Netflix has spun off "Love Is Blind" into multiple international franchises and a key part of its unscripted series business.

This season, five couples make it out of the pods and on to their engagement trip. In a twist, a few couples from the pods β€” including 33-year-old cinematographer Mason and 31-year-old oncology nurse Meg β€” decide not to get engaged. At the beginning of episode six, the two seemingly split up.

Because they didn't get engaged, Meg and Mason don't feature in the three new episodes that aired this week, which focused on the couples' getaway and meeting each others' families back home. However, the new teaser at the end of episode nine shows that they'll be back this season, and heavily hints that their relationship may not have ended for good.

Mason's multiple connections affect his relationship with Meg

Mason and Meg hit it off on their first date in the pods. Mason, however, has another connection with 28-year-old artist Madison, who in turn is also dating 29-year-old commercial real estate broker Alex in the pods.

In episode two, Mason continues to bond with both Meg and Madison. In that episode, Meg learns about Mason's connection with Madison and starts to worry about their connection. Meanwhile, in episode three, Madison continues to bond with Alex β€”Β and without naming names, Mason essentially tells Alex that Madison is his top pick, not Meg.

madison from love is blind, wearing a multicolored dress in the pods and similing while sitting on a couch
Madison in the pods in "Love Is Blind" season eight.

Netflix

Things start to come to a head later in that episode when Madison and Mason talk about the fact that they're both dating other people. During that date, Madison tells him that Meg is focused solely on Mason.

On their following date in episode four, Mason tells Madison that he's committed to her. She asks if he feels like she put an ultimatum on him, which he denies, and then thanks him for telling her. Later, outside the pods, Madison says that Mason is her number two. On a date with Alex later in the episode, Madison says that she intends to pursue a relationship with him. In episode five, she breaks up with Mason.

Later, in episode five, Mason tells Meg that he "validated Madison," but it ultimately "did not feel right."

"I clearly said it to the wrong person," he says.

Meg, however, is skeptical and asks Mason if he's now choosing her by default because Madison dumped him for Alex. In response, he tells her that she was always his first choice.

Their date continues in episode six. Mason reiterates his feelings, but Meg says that she won't be able to shake the doubt that he chose her because Madison became unavailable. She ends her relationship with Mason amicably, wishing him well.

"I feel a lot of regret," Mason says in a confessional. "I should never have validated Madison over Meg, and that's something that I'm gonna have to live with."

Ultimately, Madison and Alex don't get engaged in the pods either, after having a disagreement over Madison's breakup with Mason.

Meg and Mason don't appear to follow each other on Instagram

As of the season eight premiere, Meg and Mason don't seem to follow each other on Instagram. Mason also doesn't appear to follow Madison or Alex. Meg doesn't appear to follow Madison, nor vice versa.

Both Meg and Mason have posted about the new season on social media. Mason even poked fun at getting dumped by Madison over a plate of pancakes.

Love Is Blind season 8 contestant Mason Horacek post on Instagram
At least Mason has a sense of humor about his "Love Is Blind" experience!

Mason Horacek/Instagram

Despite not getting engaged, Mason and Meg's time on the show doesn't appear to be over. In a teaser for the next batch of episodes shown at the end of episode nine, Meg and Mason reunite with other participants in a pod squad meet-up β€” and crucially, they seem to arrive together.

"The second I got my phone, I was like, 'How's Mason?'" Meg recounts.

"He's a huge liar," Madison, now with bright pink hair, emotionally says. It's unclear if she's replying directly to Meg in the context of that conversation, or referring to someone else since she doesn't say Mason's name.

They're also not divulging anything about their current relationship status in interviews with press, though what they have said doesn't rule out a reunion.

When reflecting on the love triangle and her "Love Is Blind" experience, Meg told Glamour that she's "very happy with how life has transpired since the show ended."

Mason, for his part, told Vulture that Meg was "the clear person" for him and that he knew all along the two were "super, super compatible." He even compared their romance to the movie "Moulin Rouge," calling their relationship "the perfect love story that should have been, but ends in tragedy."

Dramatic? A bit. But it's also very much the kind of thing a guy who was still trying to make amends to his current girlfriend for his treatment of her might say.

Meg also seems to be (maybe inadvertently) dropping some unsubtle hints on social media. Most tellingly, she liked (and then unliked) a comment on one of her posts where someone said they wanted Meg and Mason to be the "Zack and Bliss" of this season.

A comment on Love Is Blind season 8 contestant Meg Fink's Instagram
Seems like a hint.

Meg Fink/Instagram

Zack and Bliss are the fan-favorite season four couple who got engaged post-pods after Zach initially proposed to another contestant instead of her. They ultimately married in the season finale, and went on to have a child together.

At this point, it's impossible to tell for certain whether Meg and Mason got back together outside the pods. We'll just need to tune into the next batch of episodes and hear them explain what happened during the pod meetup.

The first nine episodes of "Love Is Blind" season eight are now streaming on Netflix.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Monica and Joey's relationship had a heartbreaking ending, but it got even worse after 'Love Is Blind' stopped filming

left: monica from love is blind season eight, wearing a floral patterned dress and smiling in front of a purple background. she's a young woman with brown hair, worn down and curled; right: joey from love is blind season eight, wearing a pink shirt and blue blazer. he's smiling in front of a purple background and wears his hair shoulder length and down
Monica and Joey from "Love Is Blind" season eight.

Adam Rose/Netflix

  • Monica and Joey were one of the engaged couples who made it to the altar on "Love Is Blind" season eight.
  • They didn't get married in the end, but things ended cordially β€” at least initially.
  • Major tea spilled at the reunion painted Joey in a negative light.

Warning: Major spoilers ahead for "Love Is Blind" season eight.

Turns out the secret villain of "Love Is Blind" season eight was Joey Leveille β€” at least based on what we learned during the reunion on Sunday.

Joey, a 35-year-old physician associate, and Monica Danus, a 28-year-old who works in digital marketing, were one of five Minneapolis couples who got engaged after dating in the pods. The producers followed them through the couples' getaway in Honduras all the way to their wedding day, where Monica said she couldn't marry Joey, to Joey's apparent relief.

Things ended cordially, but the season eight reunion revealed that a lot more drama went down behind the scenes and after filming ended. Here's a recap of Monica and Joey's relationship and what they've said about their split.

Monica and Joey were the first couple to get engaged, but doubts crept in when they returned from the engagement trip

Monica and Joey on "Love Is Blind" season 8
Monica and Joey got stuck in the friend zone.

Netflix

Monica and Joey went on a date in episode one, where they spoke about their families. Monica said she had a "decent-sized" family in Chile, while Joey said he's close to his parents and three sisters, one of whom died when he was a teenager.

On another date later in episode one, the pair learned that they had a surprising connection. They've both seen "The Sound of Music" multiple times": Monica because it's her family's favorite movie, and Joey because he frequently spent time at his grandmother's house as a child.

In episode two, Monica revealed that she stepped away from her job to help care for her grandma. Joey reassured her, saying that he understood her decision to prioritize her family over her career, cementing that they both had similar values when it came to their families.

Later in that episode, the two became the season's first couple to get engaged when Joey proposed to Monica. In episode three, the couple met face-to-face for the first time and had a sweet exchange β€” albeit one that was giving "good friends" more than romantic partners.

"You look like Tarzan," Monica told him.

"Hopefully that's a good thing," he replied.

"It's a good thing," she said.

Monica and Joey were one of the five couples that producers followed on an engagement trip to Honduras in the second batch of episodes, and things went smoothly for them there. They initially seemed very compatible, but doubts started to creep in once they got back to Minneapolis and met one another's families.

In particular, Monica's sister, who she'd called her best friend, didn't like Joey after meeting him and suspected that he wasn't genuine. This rattled Joey, who found it difficult to get past her disapproval.

On their final date pre-wedding, Monica brought up the other major issue in their relationship: She didn't feel like Joey was all that into her. She mentioned that her love language was physical touch, which Joey confirmed wasn't in his typical wheelhouse. He assured her he'd work on it, and she acknowledged that he'd improved somewhat.

During the wedding episode, it was still a toss-up whether they'd say "I do." In the bridal suite, Monica confided in her family that she was holding back in her relationship with Joey because she felt she hadn't gotten 100% from him. Joey, for his part, told the cameras it would be a yes if that's how he was feeling at the moment.

Most tellingly, Monica teared up during an on-camera interview, admitting that she felt she was basing her decision on what she thought Joey's would be.

In the end, Monica was asked first and said, "I don't, right now." She explained that she didn't think they were there yet. Joey quickly agreed with her and indicated he was going to say no too. After walking away from each other post-ceremony, they both gave different takes on why they hadn't gotten married.

Monica maintained that it was more about her feeling a lack of interest from Joey.

Monica and Joey on "Love Is Blind" season 8
Monica said no at the altar.

Netflix

"If Joey had told me with his words, I am 100% in. It is you. I know it's you, I'm certain, I feel like it could have been a lot different," she told the cameras. "I would have liked a different outcome, but I want to be chosen. I deserve to be chosen. It's sad that he doesn't feel as strongly for me as I would hope. I was hoping he would be my person for the rest of my life."

Joey, meanwhile, believed that Monica said no because her sister's disapproval was an "inhibiting factor" for both of them. He also brought up his lack of physical affection and mentioned that Monica had never said "I love you" until the altar.

Joey and Monica were initially cordial after filming ended, but the reunion revealed more drama

Ahead of the season eight premiere, Joey and Monica still followed each other on Instagram. Joey had also liked some of Monica's posts on the platform, ranging from April 2024 to December 2024. Monica also liked Joey's post featuring clips from his appearance at the "Love Is Blind" season seven reunion, as well as two other posts from May 2024 and April 2024.

All this seemed to indicate that they were together, if not at least cordial, before the season concluded. Eventually, though, things changed.

During the reunion on Sunday, Monica admitted she felt embarrassed watching the show back, saying it was clear to her now that Joey was never interested in her romantically. Joey acknowledged that they'd been stuck in the friend zone, but maintained that it was because of Monica's sister's disapproval.

Even worse, Monica said that she found out Joey slid into other cast members' DMs shortly after the pod squad meet-up β€” while they were still engaged. Joey admitted it was true and that he had reached out to past pod connections, but said it was because he just liked to check in on people.

One of the people he'd reached out to was Madison, who was also present at the reunion. He acknowledged that his message, in which he said he wished they'd gotten to talk more, was inappropriate and came off as flirty. Monica also claimed that Joey had told her Madison was "after him" and coming on to him; when she later confronted Madison, Madison told her it wasn't true. When Monica told Joey that Madison called it a "crazy lie," Joey said he hadn't told her that Madison was coming on to him.

Joey said at the reunion that Monica had just been jealous of Madison, though he wasn't able to answer why that would have been the case if he hadn't given her a reason to be.

Both Madison and Monica seemed like they were done with Joey. Monica said that she recognized he was a good son to his parents, a good brother to his sister, and a good friend to others, but he was now nothing at all to her β€” and she was fine with that.

"I'm ready to shut the door. We are humans on this earth together," Monica said.

They're no longer following each other on Instagram.

The"Love Is Blind" season eight reunion is now streaming on Netflix.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Sara and Ben from 'Love Is Blind' have very different versions of the end of their relationship

left: sara from love is blind, a young woman with blonde hair and wearing a blue dress with thin straps smiling; right: ben from love is blind, a young man wearing a tan shirt and navy blazer, smiling
Sara and Ben get engaged on "Love Is Blind" season eight.

Adam Rose/Netflix

  • On "Love Is Blind" season eight, Sara chose not to marry Ben at the altar.
  • She said no because she and Ben weren't on the same wavelength about politics and religion.
  • At the reunion, Sara said they'd talked about continuing dating, but Ben ghosted her.

Warning: Major spoilers ahead for "Love Is Blind" season eight.

"Love Is Blind" has resulted in relatively few marriages, but sometimes couples try to continue their relationships even after saying "I don't" at the altar.

That seemed like it could be the case after Sara, a 29-year-old oncology nurse, said no to Ben, a 28-year-old account executive, at the altar. The couple two had gotten engaged despite some bumpy political and ideological discussion the series' eighth season following singles from the Twin Cities area. But ultimately, Sara decided they couldn't overcome their differences.

At the reunion, Sara revealed that she and Ben had continued dating after their weddingΒ day β€” until she said he ghosted her. Ben, however, had a different take on what happened in their relationship.

Here's a recap of Ben and Sara's "Love Is Blind" romance and what each person has said about their breakup.

Ben and Sara talked about politics in the pods and got engaged

In episode two, Ben and Sara bonded in the pods over a love of food, and the fact that both of their fathers make great steak. Their discussion eventually moved to deeper subjects like faith: While Ben is Christian, Sara isn't particularly religious and worries about discrimination against her sister, who is gay. In turn, Ben reassured her that he's comfortable with LGBTQ+ people and doesn't believe queerness is a sin.

During a date in episode four, Ben told Sara that he was falling in love with her. Sara thanked him, but wanted to talk more about their political beliefs. She became more engaged in politics after the election of Donald Trump in 2016, and the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020.

Ben, however, said that he didn't vote in the previous election and that he doesn't have opinions on the Black Lives Matter movement. Sara candidly told him that she didn't like his responses.

"I will tell you, basic human rights, equality," she told him. "I need someone to be on the same page with me about that. I feel like that speaks volumes about who you are as a person and morals and values and, you know, how you think of others."

In episode five, the couple continued to deepen their relationship. Sara, however, still had some reservations about Ben's social beliefs and politics. Ben reassured her that he intended to grow and learn, and felt that his beliefs align with her own.

Ben proposed to Sara in episode five, and she said yes. The pair finally met face-to-face later in that episode, and were one of five couples producers selected to follow on the couples' getaway in Honduras.

A still of "Love Is Blind" season eight showing Sara and Ben in matching white robes sitting on a couch.
Sara and Ben.

Courtesy of Netflix

Sara's doubts about their compatibility grew once they were back in Minneapolis,and she eventually said no at the altar

Ben and Sara had a great time during the engagement trip and didn't encounter any major drama. They even talked about how physically compatible they were. Unfortunately, once they returned to the real world, things took a turn.

While their parents approved of the match and seemed relatively okay with the speed of their engagement, Sara was still hung up on Ben's religion. As a devoted Christian, he attends church regularly. Sara was willing to give it a shot and attended a service with him, but she was lukewarm on it. When Ben didn't know his church's stance on LGBTQ+ issues, Sara looked for a sermon about it and didn't like the traditional and regressive messaging she found.

Though Ben clarified he didn't agree with the sermon and said he would be open to exploring other, more progressive churches with her, Sara remained uncertain. Sara's sister and her sister's partner also met Ben and questioned him over his beliefs, leaving Sara feeling even more unsure.

"I caution you as your sister, it is not real right now," Sara's sister told her after meeting Ben.

Sara also discovered a viral TikTok that Ben said was about him, where a woman alluded to a "Love Is Blind" season eight contestant having treated her poorly when they dated. Ben, for his part, admitted it was probably true but that it had happened so long ago he had no memory of it and hadn't thought to disclose it to Sara.

In the lead-up to their wedding day, Ben expressed essentially no doubts about wanting to marry Sara, maintaining that he would say yes and believed Sara would do the same. Sara, on the other hand, was plagued with doubt and even spoke about their differences while getting ready in the bridal suite.

Ultimately, she said no at the altar.

Sara in a wedding dress at the altar looking at Ben on "Love Is Blind" season 8
Sara and Ben at the wedding on "Love Is Blind."

Netflix

"Ben, I love you so much. But I've always wanted a partner to be on the same wavelength, and so today I can't," Sara told Ben. "I'm sorry but I don't want that to be misunderstood. I still love you and everything about you is amazing, and I care about you so much."

Ben took it on the chin and seemed unfazed, quickly responding that he understood, still loved her, and wanted to stay together to grow their relationship. Sara, clearly taken aback, demurred, telling him they'd talk about it later.

After the ceremony, Ben's friends comforted him and they all said they were surprised by the outcome. Then they prayed for healing for both Ben and Sara. Meanwhile, Sara debriefed with her mom and sister in the van, telling them about her dissatisfying conversations with Ben about LGBTQ+ issues and Black Lives Matter. She also told cameras she felt there was no "curiosity" coming from Ben to explore and expand his mindset. She also said their relationship may simply have been only on the surface level.

At the reunion, Sara and Ben told different stories of what happened after their wedding

Despite having a cordial on-screen breakup, a lot more went down between Ben and Sara after filming wrapped.

Sara revealed at the reunion that she and Ben continued to live together a week or two after the wedding and that she still had hope they could work it out. She said she and Ben had discussed her upcoming extended work assignment in Nashville and had agreed that Ben would join her there so they could continue to work on their relationship.

Sara said she drove to Nashville first, and at the end of the 12-hour drive, she discovered that Ben had removed her from Find My Friends. He didn't reach out to her initially, and then later sent what she called several scripted apology messages, which she didn't respond to.

Ben acknowledged that he and Sara had talked about him joining her in Nashville, but maintained that the final conversation they'd had right before she left gave him the impression they were broken up; according to Ben, he removed her from Find My Friends and cut her off because that's what he does when relationships end in order to heal.

According to Sara, Ben then reached out shortly before the reunion, suggesting that they should "rehearse" for the questions. Ben confirmed that Jimmy from "Love Is Blind" season six had advised Ben to make sure he was on good terms with Sara before the reunion. Sara felt that Ben was only worried about his image and that he'd essentially dropped her, while Ben countered that she ghosted him for two months by not replying to his apology texts.

In the end, Sara was left feeling that maybe the TikTok about Ben ghosting a girl was more in line with his personality than she'd realized. She had no regrets about saying no at the altar, and said she believed in retrospect that Ben was inauthentic and that he'd love-bombed her during filming.

Despite the frosty note they ended the reunion on, the two are still following each other on Instagram. During the "Love Is Blind" reunion watch party during the SXSW festival in Austin, which was attended by Business Insider, Ben and Sara were cordial, at one point standing next to one another and chatting.

The "Love Is Blind" season eight reunion is streaming on Netflix.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Dave said Lauren is the one who got away at the 'Love Is Blind' reunion — but it doesn't seem like they're rekindling their romance

left: lauren from love is blind, a young woman wearing a brown low cut dress, smiling and with her brown hair worn in waves; right: david from love is blind, wearing a pink shirt, blue blazer, and smiling
Lauren and David from "Love Is Blind" season eight.

Adam Rose/Netflix

  • Dave said Lauren was the one who got away at the "Love Is Blind" season eight reunion on Sunday.
  • Lauren and David made it out of the pods, but they split before the weddings.
  • Here's what to know about their breakup and the aftermath.

Warning: Major spoilers ahead for "Love Is Blind" season eight.

"Love Is Blind" star Dave Bettenburg knows he screwed up when it comes to his breakup with Lauren O'Brien, and even called her the one who got away.

In season eight, Lauren, a 31-year-old working in educational sales, and Dave, a 33-year-old medical device salesman, were one of five Minneapolis couples who got engaged after dating through a wall. But they weren't destined to be one of the few successful "Love Is Blind" marriages, as they split in episode 11 before making it to the altar due to Dave's hangups about Lauren's past.

Since the breakup aired, both Lauren and Dave have addressed what happened between them, and faced each other at Sunday's reunion. Dave, in particular, is facing backlash for his behavior. Here's a recap of their relationship and what they've each said about it since.

Dave and Lauren got engaged in the pods after being in a love triangle, but their relationship quickly deteriorated

Dave and Lauren in Honduras
Dave and Lauren's relationship was strong in Honduras.

Netflix

Dave distinguished himself early on in the pods portion of the season when he opened all his first dates by asking the women what was wrong with them. Despite this β€” and the fact that he joked that Lauren was no longer attractive as a 30-year-old woman β€” the two built a relationship.

The first hint of what would become a major issue in their relationship happened on their second date in episode one, when they spoke about their families. He admitted that his sister wasn't "thrilled" with him participating in the show, though he felt like it was the right decision.

The other major issue in the pods was that Dave also had a connection with another woman: Molly, a 30-year-old executive assistant. He continued to date both Molly and Lauren over the course of several episodes. Things finally came to a head in episode four, when Lauren confronted Dave and asked if he told Molly that she was his No. 1, as she'd heard Molly say in the women's living quarters. In episode five, Dave said that he didn't tell Molly that she was his No. 1, and that Lauren was the only person he had said he could see himself proposing to.

Later in that episode, Dave broke up with Molly. Afterward, Molly and Lauren had a heart-to-heart in the women's quarters and agreed that David had put them in a poor position, ending their friendship on a good note.

Despite the drama, Lauren and Dave reconciled, and in episode five, he proposed to her. During the post-engagement group vacation in Honduras, the two enjoyed getting to know one another, though Dave seemed rather fixated on finding out whether the other couples had had sex yet (he and Lauren, he made very clear, had not).

And during a boat date in episode seven, Dave brought up what would ultimately be the downfall of their relationship: He had mutual friends with two guys Lauren had previously dated, and he didn't know she'd been casually seeing someone right before going on the show. "It's a little weird that I know them," Dave said. "I don't want that to affect our relationship when we go back."

Spoiler alert: It did, in fact, affect their relationship.

Dave didn't trust Lauren and his family didn't want to meet her, which ultimately led to their breakup

Dave's distrust of Lauren bled into the issues his family had with the whole process. He didn't feel comfortable bringing Lauren to meet his family, who also didn't seem eager to meet her, given their general dislike of the whole "Love Is Blind" process and what they'd heard from others about her.

In episode 10, Dave and Lauren once again argued over his friends and family's refusal to meet her, saying he didn't want to waste their time because he doesn't have them meet just anyone. During a bowling date, Dave opined on how affected he was by everyone's outside opinions on Lauren and their relationship.

"If you don't see it with me, then I want to know," Lauren told Dave. "I don't know how much longer I can keep doing this."

In episode 11, they went to an empty movie theater to continue the conversation, once again rehashing their different points of view over Lauren's pre-"LIB" hookup: Dave believed Lauren wasn't being truthful and hadn't ended the relationship, while Lauren said that she and the guy she'd been seeing had "different interpretations" of their time together and that there was no "relationship" to end.

Ultimately, Dave broke up with Lauren after she said this was something he needed to work through himself. "You're not ready to choose someone else and be a team member with them," she said.

Dave on "Love Is Blind" season 8
Dave broke up with Lauren in an empty movie theater.

Netflix

Dave said he was still in love with Lauren and that it was hard for him to walk away, but Lauren didn't believe that was true and said that he would have tried harder to work through their issues if he'd really loved her enough.

The two came face to face once again at the pod squad meetup in episode 11, where they each also spoke to Molly, Dave's other pod connection. Molly first talked to Lauren privately, thanking Lauren again for being kind to her when she and Dave broke up. She revealed that she had heard another woman was "all over him" when they were at the same bar with other cast members on a night that Dave stayed out and slept at his apartment after arguing with Lauren.

Lauren was surprised to hear that but told Molly that she and Dave had already broken up the night before. They vented their mutual frustrations over Dave.

Molly and Dave then spoke privately, where Molly laid into Dave about his treatment of Lauren and getting so hung up on Lauren's previous entanglement. She also criticized him for putting so much stock in his sister's opinion, at the cost of his relationship with Lauren.

Dave told the cameras he wanted to text Lauren right after their breakup but didn't. He then pulled Lauren aside, and they had an emotional conversation where Dave took responsibility for their breakup and acknowledged that he'd been closed off to her.

"It was my fault. It was my ego that got in the way of like seeing what we had. I guess what I'm saying is, I'm really sorry," he told Lauren.

He confessed his love to Lauren again and said what they'd had was real, hinting he wanted to try again. Lauren told him she was sorry he was feeling bad and wanted to believe what he was saying, but it was too late.

"I think we're past that," she said.

Dave and Lauren confronted each other at the reunion

Ben and Dave on the "Love Is Blind" season 8 reunion
Dave was apologetic at the reunion.

Greg Gayne/Netflix

At the reunion, which aired on Sunday, Dave was contrite. He said that he had finally gotten clarity regarding Lauren's pre-show hookup when he got a text that made him realize the man she'd been seeing had exaggerated the seriousness of their relationship in an attempt to get screen time. He said his friends and family now also knew the truth: that Lauren was being genuine all along.

Dave also revealed that he and Lauren had been talking a lot in the last few weeks, but not to rekindle their relationship. He'd reached out to apologize and tell her he was wrong ahead of the reunion taping.

When hosts Vanessa and Nick Lachey asked Dave if Lauren was the one who got away, he replied in the affirmative. Lauren, however, seemed completely uninterested in dating again. She said she "gained clarity" on their relationship within days of the breakup and realized she was light years ahead of him in emotional maturity.

Lauren said she also didn't really care that Dave and his family have now gotten the clarity he needed on her dating history because she'd known the truth all along.

Lauren at the "Love Is Blind" reunion for season 8
Lauren wasn't interested in getting back together with Dave.

Greg Gayne/Netflix

Crucially, Lauren also said she didn't quite believe that Dave genuinely still had feelings for her β€” she pointed out that he'd had her number all year since their breakup and never reached out until recently.

However, Lauren defended Dave against the online hate he's been getting from fans, who are calling him a narcissist and manipulator in his Instagram comments. She said she doesn't think he's either of those things and just has a lot of growing and healing to do before he can enter a serious relationship.

When Business Insider attended the "Love Is Blind" reunion watch party during the SXSW festival in Austin, Lauren and Dave were cordial. They stood next to each other and even talked at the bar. Dave said during the live Q&A with Vulture reporter Jason P. Frank that they'd even been taking shots together earlier in the night.

The "Love Is Blind" season eight reunion is streaming on Netflix.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Where to find the 'Love Is Blind' season 8 cast on Instagram and TikTok

A composite image showing "Love Is Blind" contestants Madison Errichiello, David Bettenburg and Taylor Haag.
Madison Errichiello, David Bettenburg, and Taylor Haag are contestants on "Love Is Blind" season eight.

Adam Rose / Netflix

  • The first six episodes of "Love Is Blind" stream on Valentine's Day.
  • This season is based in Minnesota with a new crop of 20 to 30-year-olds looking for love.
  • Here's what to know about the contestants, including where to find them on Instagram and TikTok.

"Love Is Blind" is back this Valentine's Day.

The first six episodes of season eight will air on Friday and feature a new cast of singles from Minnesota dating in isolated pods where they can't see what their partner looks like.

This season features multiple nurses, a wine bar owner, and a cinematographer. Here's where you can find the cast on social media.

Adam Beavis
A still from "Love Is Blind" season 8 showing a cross-armed man wearing cream trousers, a t-shirt and a jacket.
Adam Beavis from "Love Is Blind" season eight.

Adam Rose / Netflix

Adam, 33, is a fashion director.

You can follow him on Instagram here and on TikTok here.

Alex Brown
A still of "Love Is Blind" season eight showing a man wearing a sweater and jeans in front of a purple background.
Alex Brown from "Love Is Blind" season eight.

Adam Rose / Netflix

Alex, 29, is a commercial real estate broker.

You can follow him on Instagram here and on TikTok here.

Amanda Burke
A still of "Love Is Blind" season eight showing a woman in an orange dress in front of a purple background.
Amanda Burke from "Love Is Blind" season eight.

Adam Rose / Netflix

Amanda, 43, is a district retail manager.

You can follow her on Instagram here.

Andrew Cole
A still of "Love Is Blind" season eight showing a man wearing a shirt, a grey blazer and black trousers in front of a purple background.
Andrew Cole from "Love Is Blind" season eight.

Adam Rose / Netflix

Andrew, 27, is a real-estate agent.

You can follow him on TikTok here.

Ashley Sutten
A still of "Love Is Blind" season eight showing a woman in a green dress in front of a purple background.
Ashley Sutten from "Love Is Blind" season eight.

Adam Rose / Netflix

Ashley, 28, is a client success manager.

You can follow her on Instagram here and on TikTok here.

Benji Smith
A still of "Love Is Blind" season eight showing a man wearing a blue shirt and cream trousers in front of a purple background.
Benji Smith from "Love Is Blind" season eight.

Adam Rose / Netflix

Benji, 26, is an entrepreneur and realtor.

You can follow him on Instagram here and on TikTok here.

Ben Mezzenga
A still of "Love Is Blind" season eight showing a man wearing a brown shirt, blue blazer, and blue trousers in front of a purple background.
Ben Mezzenga from "Love Is Blind" season eight.

Adam Rose / Netflix

Ben, 28, is a developer.

You can follow him on Instagram here and on TikTok here.

Brad Morgan
A still of "Love Is Blind" season eight showing a man wearing a shirt and jeans in front of a purple background.
Brad Morgan from "Love Is Blind" season eight.

Adam Rose / Netflix

Brad, 35, is a dentist.

You can follow him on Instagram here.

Brian C Sumption
A still of "Love Is Blind" season eight showing a man wearing a shirt and grey trousers in front of a purple background.
Brian C Sumption from "Love Is Blind" season eight.

Adam Rose / Netflix

Brian, 30, is a wine bar owner.

You can follow him on Instagram here.

Brittany Dodson
A still of "Love Is Blind" season eight showing a woman in a blue dress in front of a purple background.
Brittany Dodson from "Love Is Blind" season eight.

Adam Rose / Netflix

Brittany, 35, is a partnership executive.

You can follow her on Instagram here and on TikTok here.

Casandra Barron
A still of "Love Is Blind" season eight showing a woman in an orange dress in front of a purple background.
Casandra Barron from "Love Is Blind" season eight.

Adam Rose / Netflix

Casandra, 30, is a hairstylist.

You can follow her on Instagram here and on TikTok here.

Daniel Hastings
A still of "Love Is Blind" season eight showing a man wearing a shirt, a blue jacket and black jeans in front of a purple background.
Daniel Hastings from "Love Is Blind" season eight.

Adam Rose / Netflix

Daniel, 30, is a sales account executive.

You can follow him on Instagram here and on TikTok here.

David Bettenburg
A still of "Love Is Blind" season eight showing a man wearing a shirt, a blue blazer and jeans in front of a purple background.
David Bettenburg from "Love Is Blind" season eight.

Adam Rose / Netflix

David, 33, works in medical device sales.

You can follow him on Instagram here.

Devin Buckley
A still of "Love Is Blind" season eight showing a man wearing a t-shirt, a red coat, and jeans in front of a purple background.
Devin Buckley from "Love Is Blind" season eight.

Adam Rose / Netflix

Devin, 29, is a basketball coach and a youth sports program director.

You can follow him on Instagram here and on TikTok here.

Hugo Orieny
A still of "Love Is Blind" season eight showing a man wearing a black top, gray blazer, and gray trousers in front of a purple background.
Hugo Orieny from "Love Is Blind" season eight.

Adam Rose / Netflix

Hugo, 30, works in marketing.

You can follow him on Instagram here.

Joey Leveille
A still of "Love Is Blind" season eight showing a man wearing a pink shirt, a blue blazer and matching blue trousers in front of a purple background.
Joey Leveille from "Love Is Blind" season eight.

Adam Rose / Netflix

Joey, 35, is a physician associate.

You can follow him on Instagram here and on TikTok here.

Kylie Shuelke
A still of "Love Is Blind" season eight showing a woman a special blazer fused with a bra, and matching sky blue trousers in front of a purple background.
Kylie Shuelke from "Love Is Blind" season eight.

Adam Rose / Netflix

Kylie, 28, is a medical student.

You can follow her on Instagram here and on TikTok here.

Lauren O'Brien
A still of "Love Is Blind" season eight showing a woman in a brown dress in front of a purple background.
Lauren O'Brien from "Love Is Blind" season eight.

Adam Rose / Netflix

Lauren, 31, works in educational sales.

You can follow her on Instagram here and on TikTok here.

Madison Errichiello
A still of "Love Is Blind" season eight showing a woman in a colourful dress in front of a purple background.
Madison Errichiello from "Love Is Blind" season eight.

Adam Rose / Netflix

Madison, 28, is an artist.

You can follow her on Instagram here and on TikTok here.

Mason Horacen
A still of "Love Is Blind" season eight showing a man wearing a shirt, a blue blazer, and grey jeans in front of a purple background.
Mason Horacen from "Love Is Blind" season eight.

Adam Rose / Netflix

Mason, 33, is a cinematographer.

You can follow him on Instagram here and on TikTok here.

Meg Fink
A still of "Love Is Blind" season eight showing a woman in a blood orange dress in front of a purple background.
Meg Fink from "Love Is Blind" season eight.

Adam Rose / Netflix

Meg, 31, is an oncology nurse.

You can follow her on Instagram here and on TikTok here.

Molly Mullaney
A still of "Love Is Blind" season eight showing a woman in a green dress in front of a purple background.
Molly Mullaney from "Love Is Blind" season eight.

Adam Rose / Netflix

Molly, 30, is an executive assistant.

You can follow her on Instagram here and on TikTok here.

Mo Ndiaye
A still of "Love Is Blind" season eight showing a man wearing a colourful shirt, a red blazer and green trousers in front of a purple background.
Mo Ndiaye from "Love Is Blind" season eight.

Adam Rose / Netflix

Mo, 35, is a property manager.

You can follow him on Instagram here and on TikTok here.

Monica Danus
A still of "Love Is Blind" season eight showing a woman in a floral dress in front of a purple background.
Monica Danus from "Love Is Blind" season eight.

Adam Rose / Netflix

Monica, 28, works in digital marketing.

You can follow her on Instagram here and on TikTok here.

Sara Carton
A still of "Love Is Blind" season eight showing a woman in a blue dress in front of a purple background.
Sara Carton from "Love Is Blind" season eight.

Adam Rose / Netflix

Sara, 29, is an oncology nurse.

You can follow her on Instagram here and on TikTok here.

Scott Sanderson
A still of "Love Is Blind" season eight showing a man wearing a shirt, a brown blazer and jeans in front of a purple background.
Scott Sanderson from "Love Is Blind" season eight.

Adam Rose / Netflix

Scott, 34, is a project manager.

You can follow him on Instagram here.

Taylor Haag
A still of "Love Is Blind" season eight showing a woman in a pink blazer in front of a purple background.
Taylor Haag from "Love Is Blind" season eight.

Adam Rose / Netflix

Taylor, 32, is a colonoscopy nurse.

You can follow her on Instagram here.

Tiera Wright
A still of "Love Is Blind" season eight showing a woman in a green dress in front of a purple background.
Tiera Wright from "Love Is Blind" season eight.

Adam Rose / Netflix

Tiera, 34, is a marketing strategist.

You can follow her on Instagram here and on TikTok here.

Tom Dann
A still of "Love Is Blind" season eight showing a man wearing a white shirt, a blue blazer and jeans in front of a purple background.
Tom Dann from "Love Is Blind" season eight.

Adam Rose / Netflix

Tom, 38, is a management consultant.

You can follow him on Instagram here.

Vanessa Boreland
A still of "Love Is Blind" season eight showing a woman in a peach and cream dress in front of a purple background.
Vanessa Boreland from "Love Is Blind" season eight.

Adam Rose / Netflix

Vanessa, 31, is a media planner.

You can follow her on Instagram here and on TikTok here.

Virgina Miller
A still of "Love Is Blind" season eight showing a woman in a pink dress in front of a purple background.
Virgina Miller from "Love Is Blind" season eight.

Adam Rose / Netflix

Virginia, 34, is a healthcare recruiter.

You can follow her on Instagram here and on TikTok here.

Yemi Ajagbe
A still of "Love Is Blind" season eight showing a woman in a red dress in front of a purple background.
Yemi Ajagbe from "Love Is Blind" season eight.

Adam Rose / Netflix

Yemi, 30, is a product sales manager.

You can follow her on Instagram here and on TikTok here.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Is Chanelle from 'Apple Cider Vinegar' a real person? She's similar to a woman who helped expose Belle Gibson

11 February 2025 at 13:35
aisha dee as chanelle in apple cinder vinegar. she's a young woman who's smiling widely and wearing her hair naturally, leaning back in a chair and looking at her friend
Aisha Dee as Chanelle in "Apple Cider Vinegar."

Netflix

  • Netflix's "Apple Cider Vinegar" explores Belle Gibson's fake cancer claims and wellness empire.
  • The show fictionalizes real events, focusing on Gibson's business and fraudulent health claims.
  • Chanelle, a character in the show, is inspired by real-life figures linked to Gibson's story.

Netflix's "Apple Cider Vinegar" is a fictionalized take on the story of influencer Belle Gibson, an Australian woman who built a wellness empire in the 2010s on claims that healthy living was helping her treat her terminal brain cancer. But it all fell apart when it was revealed that Gibson never had the disease at all.

In the Netflix series, Kaitlyn Dever's Belle is ultimately taken down by a pair of reporters thanks to a tip from Belle's former manager Chanelle (Aisha Dee). Things are complicated by the fact that before managing Belle, Chanelle also managed Milla Blake (Alycia Debnam-Carey) β€” a childhood friend who also built her brand around attempting to treat her cancer via alternative methods.

Like Milla, the Chanelle character isn't exactly the same in real life. But she shares a lotβ€” including a first name β€” with the woman who is likely her real-life counterpart.

alycia debnam-carey and aisha dee as milla and chanelle in apple cider vinegar. they're two young women standing on a porch, smiling and looking at each other.
Alycia Debnam-Carey and Dee as Milla and Chanelle in "Apple Cider Vinegar."

Netflix

Chanelle works with both Milla and Belle in 'Apple Cider Vinegar'

In the Netflix series, Chanelle joins Milla's team after her business starts to take off to help her to secure brand deals. She meets Belle at a Cosmopolitan awards ceremony she's attending with Milla, who's up for an award in the same category as Belle (Belle wins). The three women meet at the after-party, where Chanelle and Belle bond after Milla leaves.

As Milla works on launching her juice line, Chanelle works with Belle to support the launch of her app, The Whole Pantry, on the Apple Watch. But as Chanelle is exposed to the more glamorous aspects of Belle's lifestyle, she starts to have doubts about her story.

Eventually, she confronts Belle and explicitly asks if she has brain cancer. Belle deflects, but the two seemingly come to an agreement to cancel her deal with Apple and the publishing of her cookbook. Instead, however, Belle doubles down on the lie and claims on social media that she's been diagnosed with multiple additional cancers.

After The Whole Pantry cookbook launch, Chanelle tells two reporters at The Age that Belle is a fraud. While they're unable to report any information about Belle's health, they publish a story with evidence that she hadn't followed through on multiple promised charitable donations.

Chanelle stops working with Belle, but later runs into her at Milla's funeral. (Milla, unlike Belle, actually had cancer.) Later, Chanelle is seen planting trees with Milla's father and fiancΓ©.

aisha dee and alycia debnam-carey as chanelle and milla in aple cider vinegar. they're two young women conversing closely in a colorfully decorated kitchen. on the table in front them are rows of colorful juices in glass bottles
Dee and Debnam-Carey as Chanelle and Milla in "Apple Cider Vinegar."

Netflix

Chanelle is based on one of Belle's former friends β€” but there are a few differences

Chanelle is likely based on Chanelle McAuliffe, though there are a few key differences between the character and the real-life woman, who told The Sunday Times she was not consulted for the Netflix series.

McAuliffe told The Sunday Times that she met Gibson at the 2013 launch party for her app, The Whole Pantry. Though she never explicitly worked with Gibson, as Chanelle does in the show, she started to suspect Gibson's claims were fraudulent after befriending her.

"She was doing this strict protocol of healing herself from cancer with nautral wellness remedies and clean eating," McAuliffe told the publication. "But she would go to the solarium, which obviously increases the risk of skin cancer, and she would get drunk at times. She was not sharing any of this with her community."

After Gibson collapsed at her son's birthday party but refused an ambulance, McAuliffe said she confronted Gibson and asked her to produce documentation that she had cancer.

When Gibson dodged the question and refused, McAuliffe went to the press, giving reporter Beau Donnelly a tip about Gibson. He and his colleague Nick Toscana then reported in the Sydney Morning Herald that Gibson had failed to follow through on multiple promised charitable donations. The pair went on to write the 2017 book "The Woman Who Fooled The World," which serves as the basis for "Apple Cider Vinegar."

In "Apple Cider Vinegar," Chanelle also works as Milla's manager, and is one of her childhood friends. In reality, McAuliffe did not work with Jess Ainscough, the real Australian influencer whose story resembles Milla's. Ainscough's manager was Yvette Luciano; Ainscough died of epithelioid sarcoma in 2015.

In real life, Gibson had little more than a tenuous connection to Aincough, too: Donnelly and Toscana report in their book that Luciano was confused to see Gibson make an appearance at Ainscough's funeral. After Ainscough's death, Yvette wrote on social media that Gibson and Ainscough were not friends, and did not have a relationship "beyond an Instagram or two."

"Apple Cider Vinegar" is streaming in full on Netflix.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Milla Blake in 'Apple Cider Vinegar' isn't a real person, but her story seemingly draws from an Australian wellness influencer's life

8 February 2025 at 02:03
alycia debnam-carey and aisha dee as milla and chanelle in apple cider vinegar. they're two young women standing on a porch, smiling and looking at each other.
Alycia Debnam-Carey and Aisha Dee as Milla and Chanelle in "Apple Cider Vinegar."

Netflix

  • Netflix's "Apple Cider Vinegar" was inspired by Belle Gibson, who lied about having brain cancer.
  • It features fictional characters that appear to be based on real people in Gibson's life.
  • Milla, a character in the show, is reminiscent of real-life wellness influencer Jess Ainscough.

Netflix's "Apple Cider Vinegar" is a "true-ish" (in the streamer's words) story about a woman who built a wellness empire on the lie that she had cancer.

Belle Gibson, whose full name is Annabelle Natalie Gibson, claimed that she had been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in 2009 and given a weekslong prognosis. In 2014, she launched her own nutrition app, The Whole Pantry. In 2015, reports emerged that she hadn't followed through on donations to charity β€” and then, she admitted that she had never had cancer.

The television series presents a fictionalized version of Gibson's story (she's played by Kaitlyn Dever). It juxtaposes her narrative against that of another wellness influencer: Milla Blake (Alycia Debnam-Carey), a young woman who forgoes chemotherapy and treats her cancer using alternative methods.

Unlike Gibson, there isn't a real Milla. However, her story on the show is reminiscent of the life of Jess Ainscough, a real Australian wellness influencer who died in 2015.

alycia debnam-carey as milla blake in apple cider vinegar. she's sitting in an outdoor pool in a green swimsuit, her knees pulled up to her chest as she holds a paperback in her hand
Alycia Debnam-Carey as Milla Blake in "Apple Cider Vinegar."

Netflix

In 'Apple Cider Vinegar,' Milla has cancer and attempts to treat it naturally

"Apple Cider Vinegar" introduces Camilla "Milla" Blake as a young woman with a vibrant social life and journalism career in Sydney. Her diagnosis β€”Β undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma β€”Β throws her life into disarray. Milla refuses her doctor's recommendation to amputate, and instead opts for an experimental form of chemotherapy.

Unfortunately, Milla's cancer returns. However, she forgoes the recommendation to amputate again and tries to treat her cancer through natural methods. She also seeks treatment at the fictional Hirsch Institute, which promotes methods including coffee enemas and a specific diet and is reminiscent of real-life Gerson therapy.

Milla begins to blog about her treatment, eventually attracting a following that includes the show's fictionalized version of Belle Gibson. She publishes a book titled "From Hell to Well" and hosts events under her personal brand, Green Stone Healing. With the help of her friend-turned-manager Chanelle, she also nets brand deals and attempts to launch her own juice line.

Milla's cancer worsens over the years, and she turns to black salve, a dangerous, corrosive compound that is banned for sale in the United States by the FDA and is not a cancer cure. Her mother also contracts cancer and dies en route to the Hirsch Institute in Mexico, where she intended to pursue the same treatment as her daughter.

After a video of Milla goes viral and reveals to the public that the cancer has returned to her arm, she returns to her prior doctor. He informs her that the cancer has metastasized and is too far progressed to treat.

"If it was an option, I'd be returning to conventional medicine," Milla writes to her followers following the news. "But it's not. When I was diagnosed with cancer, I believed it was my fault. It wasn't. I believed it was up to me to cure myself. It wasn't. I thought I could become whole through diet, and by listening to my own instincts. But I was wrong."

Milla dies. The fictional Belle Gibson attends her funeral, crying loudly during the service. At the wake, she searches Milla's bedroom and attempts to console Milla's fiancΓ© Arlo until he orders her to leave.

Milla is a fictional character, but her story is reminiscent of the real-life Jess Ainscough

Jess Ainscough was a wellness influencer who died in February 2015 at age 30, seven years after she was diagnosed with epithelioid sarcoma. Ainscough's doctors recommended amputation, but she pursued chemotherapy. She later turned to alternative medicine, including Gerson Therapy, which has not been approved by the United States FDA as a treatment for cancer.

Before her diagnosis, Ainscough worked at the teen magazine Dolly. After she chose not to pursue conventional treatment, Ainscough began posting on her blog, The Wellness Warrior. She published a book titled "Make Peace with Your Plate: Change Your Life One Meal at a Time," and hosted speaking engagements.

Ainscough's mother Sharyn was diagnosed with breast cancer and died in October 2013. The Guardian reported that Sharyn also supported Gerson Therapy.

Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano, the reporters who broke the story in 2015 that Gibson had not followed through on promised charitable donations, reported for the Sydney Morning Herald that Gibson attended Ainscough's funeral in March 2015, and was seen crying loudly during the service. Gibson and Ainscough had met two years prior and interacted on social media, the pair reported, but Ainscough's manager said that the two women were not friends.

Prior to her death, Ainscough was engaged to Tallon Pamenter.

"Apple Cider Vinegar" is streaming on Netflix.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Belle Gibson built a wellness empire on the lie that she had cancer. After she got caught, her story took an even stranger turn.

6 February 2025 at 01:53
Kaitlyn Dever as Belle Gibson in "Apple Cider Vinegar." She's wearing a pink turtleneck sweater with her hair pulled back, and staring firmly ahead.
Kaitlyn Dever as Belle Gibson in "Apple Cider Vinegar."

Netflix

  • Belle Gibson was a wellness influencer who said she had brain cancer.
  • In 2015, she said she did not have, nor had ever had, cancer.
  • Netflix's "Apple Cider Vinegar" tells a fictionalized version of her story. Here's where she is today.

In the early 2010s, Belle Gibson built a wellness empire on a lie.

The influencer established a platform in the early days of Instagram, creating a nutrition app called The Whole Pantry that eventually led to a cookbook of the same name. She amassed more than 200,000 followers on her now-defunct account, as well as accolades including Cosmopolitan's 2014 Fun Fearless Female Award.

The influencer claimed that she'd been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in 2009 and had extended her weekslong prognosis into years through natural treatments and nutrition. That lie brought in money: In 2015, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that her Whole Pantry recipe app, which cost 3.79 Australian dollars, had been purchased more than 300,000 times.

Now, Gibson's story is the basis of Netflix's "Apple Cider Vinegar," a series starring Kaitlyn Dever that bills itself as a "true-ish story based on a lie." The series presents a fictionalized account of Gibson's life and downfall.

Here's what happened to Gibson in real life.

Kaitlyn Dever as Belle Gibson in "Apple Cider Vinegar." She's wearing a pink dress with straps, her blonde hair is worn loose, and she's carrying a heavily laden fruit tray.
Dever as Gibson in "Apple Cider Vinegar."

Netflix

Gibson's downfall began with reports she'd lied about charitable donations

The Fairfax Media reporters Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano, who wrote the book "The Woman Who Fooled The World: Belle Gibson's Cancer Con," reported in 2015 that Gibson hadn't donated money she solicited online in the name of multiple charitable organizations. Gibson attributed the delay in some donations to "cash flow" problems within the business.

Gibson's cookbook publisher, Penguin Australia, subsequently dropped her book, the Sydney Morning Herald reported in 2015. Apple, which had marketed the Whole Pantry app alongside the launch of its Apple Watch, also removed it from promotions in March 2015, the publication reported.

Gibson walked back her claim that she had terminal brain cancer and was fined

In an April 2015 interview with Australian Women's Weekly, Gibson admitted that she did not have, nor had ever had, cancer.

"None of it's true," she told the publication.

"I don't want forgiveness," she said. "I just think [speaking out] was the responsible thing to do. Above anything, I would like people to say: 'OK, she's human. She's obviously had a big life.'"

Gibson told the publication that she was told by two people, in 2009 and 2014, that she had cancer. The journalist Clair Weaver wrote that Gibson's stories about her diagnosis were "strange, involving men treating her with machines said to be capable of both diagnosing and treating cancer."

Gibson also spoke about her story in a "60 Minutes" Australia interview; the Sydney Morning Herald reported she was paid AU$75,000 for it.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported in 2017 that an Australian Federal Court judge found Gibson guilty of misleading and deceptive conduct. She was later ordered to pay a fine of AU$410,000 for five violations of Australian consumer law, including failing to donate a week's worth of app sales to the family of a boy with an inoperable brain tumor, the ABC reported.

Gibson appeared in court in May 2019, during which she said she was unable to pay the fine, the ABC reported. She said again during a June 2019 court appearance that she was unable to pay, per the ABC.

In January 2020, Victoria Sheriff's Office officers raided Gibson's home in a "search and sale" effort to recoup the money after she failed to pay the amount, which at the time totaled more than AU$500,000 including penalties and interest, the ABC reported. Authorities raided her home again in May 2021, The Guardian reported.

Kaitlyn Dever as Belle Gibson in "Apple Cider Vinegar." She's wearing a pink, sparkling dress, red lipstick, and long earrings with her hair pulled back in a ponytail. she's smiling and standing, lit in pink, at a podium.
Dever as Gibson in "Apple Cider Vinegar."

Netflix

Gibson said in 2020 that she'd been 'adopted' by the Ethiopian community in Melbourne

Years later, Gibson appeared to have embedded herself in the Ethiopian Oromo community in Melbourne. In an October 2019 video published on social media, which was reported on by The Age and the ABC in January 2020, Gibson reportedly spoke Oromo and introduced herself as Sabontu, saying that she felt "blessed to be adopted" by the community.

Members of the community told the ABC that they hadn't been aware of Gibson's social media past before the raid on her home that month.

Today, Gibson doesn't maintain a public social media presence. The Daily Telegraph Australia reported that Gibson said she was "not interested in a chat" when reached by phone.

An email listed on a LinkedIn profile that matches Gibson's information didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

"Apple Cider Vinegar" is now streaming on Netflix.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Meet Bianca Censori, Kanye West's partner who went almost fully nude at the 2025 Grammy Awards

2 February 2025 at 21:25
Kanye West and Bianca Censori.
Kanye West and Bianca Censori have been romantically linked since 2022.

Arnold Jerocki/Getty Images

  • Bianca Censori, Kanye West's partner, went almost fully nude while walking the 2025 Grammys red carpet.
  • Censori, 30, has been romantically linked to the controversial rapper, 47, since January 2023.
  • She is an architectural designer at Yeezy, per a LinkedIn profile matching her description.

Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, is no stranger to making headlines, but his partner Bianca Censori may have outshone him this time.

On Sunday, the rapper, 47, hit the 2025 Grammy Awards red carpet clad in a black shirt and pants, while Censori, 30, wore a black fur coat that she removed to reveal a virtually transparent mini dress underneath.

Kanye West and Bianca Censori at the Grammy Awards red carpet.
The couple walked the 2025 Grammys red carpet together.

Jon Kopaloff/WireImage

Censori has been spotted wearing sheer outfits in public multiple times before.

In March, she pulled up to a drive-thru with Ye in a super sheer black bodysuit. A month later, in April, she went to dinner with him in Los Angeles in a completely see-through tube dress and hot pink stockings. In December, she was also seen strolling around Art Basel Miami in a similarly racy nude bodysuit that left little to the imagination.

In January 2023, TMZ reported that the pair had symbolically wed without a marriage certificate in a private ceremony in Beverly Hills.Β Earlier in the month, they were spotted sharing a meal at the Waldorf Astoria, and Ye was wearing a new ring on his left-hand ring finger in photos taken by TMZ that day.

This came just two months after West finalized his divorce from Kim Kardashian.

Censori and Ye have yet to publicly confirm their marriage, but the rapper did refer to her as a "stepmom" to his children in a since-deleted birthday tribute post on Instagram in January 2024, per People.

Before news of their relationship broke, Censori hadn't been in the spotlight in the same way as Ye's more high-profile exes, like Kardashian and Julia Fox.

Here's everything you need to know about Censori and her connection to Ye.Β 

Censori is an architectural designer at Yeezy

According to Censori's LinkedIn account, she began working as an architectural designer at Yeezy in November 2020 and has been working full-time at the company.

Before that, she worked as a student architect and design consultant at DP Toscano Architects, an architectural firm in Collingwood, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia.Β 

Censori was also part of the architectural team involved in renovating Ye's Tadao Ando-designed beachfront property in Malibu, per The New Yorker. The rapper paid $57 million for the concrete home in 2011, gutted it, and sold it at a loss for $21 million in 2024.

She previously ran a jewelry brand called Nylons

Censori started Nylons, a jewelry company, just after she finished high school, she told i-D in 2016. "I started playing around with mesh, then putting crystals inside the meshing, just making really simple thin chokers," she said.

She began the company while studying at the University of Melbourne, where she pursued both undergraduate and graduate degrees in architecture. The business served as a "creative outlet" while Censori was in architecture school.

She's also a visual artist.Β 

In 2022, Censori appeared in a group show called "Vital Pleasures" at the Australian gallery It's Nice Inside. She and fellow artist Tanil Raif produced a sculpture of a woman bent over, seemingly covered in vines.

Kanye West and Bianca Censori attend the Prototypes Menswear Spring/Summer 2025 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on June 19, 2024 in Paris, France.
In December 2022, the rapper released a song that appeared to reference her last name.

Lyvans Boolaky/Getty Images

Ye released a song that appears to reference Censori in December 2022

NME reported in December 2022 that Ye dropped an original song that sampled the Alex Jones interview in which he praised Hitler, and also referenced some of his recent controversies and antisemitic remarks. Ye shared the song on Instagram on December 7, 2022, per NME, but the post has since been deleted.Β 

The caption of the song, which sampled the 1973 Donny Hathaway track "Someday We'll All Be Free," appeared to reference Censori.Β 

"Censori overload. The variable epitope library from the antigen promotes an immune response in the body," the caption read, a play on the term "sensory overload."

According to Page Six, one of the lyrics of the song reads, "And the Bible said, 'I can't have any more sex 'til marriage."

This story was originally published in 2023 and was updated after Bianca Censori's Grammys appearance.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Coralie Fargeat is the 9th woman to be nominated for a best director Oscar — here are all the others

24 January 2025 at 14:24
left: jane campion, smiling and holding an oscar; center: chloe zhao, speaking and holding an oscar; right: Coralie Fargeat
smiling on a red carpet
Jane Campion, ChloΓ© Zhao, and Coralie Fargeat are three of the nine women who have been nominated for best directing at the Academy Awards.

Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic; Todd Wawrychuk/A.M.P.A.S. via Getty Images; Amy Sussman/Getty Images

  • In the Oscars' nearly century-long history, only nine women have ever been nominated for their directing.
  • Jane Campion, ChloΓ© Zhao, and Kathryn Bigelow are the only women to win the best director award.
  • Coralie Fargeat is the latest woman to be nominated, for her film "The Substance."

The Oscars have been around since 1929, but to date, only nine women have been nominated for the award for best director.

Since Lina WertmΓΌller became the first woman nominated for the award in 1977, there have only been a handful of subsequent nominations, and even more notable snubs. Only three women who were nominated for the award have ever won it.

Coralie Fargeat, who was nominated for "The Substance," is now the ninth woman to be nominated for the award for best director at the Oscars.

Fargeat and "The Substance" have been major players on the festival and awards circuit in the 2024-2025 season. Fargeat won the award for best screenplay at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, and she notched nominations for directing and screenplay at the 2025 Golden Globes. Demi Moore, the film's star, was also nominated for best actress at the Academy Awards after winning the same award at the 2025 Golden Globes.

Here are all the women who have been nominated for best director at the Oscars.

Lina WertmΓΌller, "Seven Beauties" (1977)
Lina WertmΓΌller
Lina WertmΓΌller.

Getty Images

In 1977,Β WertmΓΌller became the first woman ever to be nominated in the directing category at the 49th Academy Awards. She was also nominated for best original screenplay. Her film, "Seven Beauties," is an Italian-language movie about an Italian man who deserts the army during World War II, and is captured by Germans and sent to prison camp.Β 

WertmΓΌller lost the directing category to John G. Avildsen for "Rocky." Other nominees in the category were Sidney Lumet ("Network"), Ingmar Bergman ("Face to Face") and Alan J. Pakula ("All the President's Men").

Jane Campion, "The Piano" (1994), "The Power of the Dog" (2022)
jane campion holding her oscar statuette. she's wearing all black and smiling widely, her hair worn loose
Jane Campion won the award for best directing for "The Power of the Dog."

Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

In 1994, Campion became the second woman to be nominated for directing a film. "The Piano," about a mute piano player and her daughter, stars Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, and Anna Paquin, who won best supporting actress at age 11.Β 

At the 66th Academy Awards ceremony, Campion won for best original screenplay, but lost the directing category to Steven Spielberg, who won for "Schindler's List."

Campion is the only woman who has earned multiple best director nominations at the Academy Awards. In 2021, she was nominated and won the award for "The Power of the Dog," which starred Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, and Kodi Smit-McPhee.

Sofia Coppola, "Lost in Translation" (2004)
Sofia Coppola
Sofia Coppola.

Getty Images

Coppola's critically acclaimed dramedy starring Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson was a favorite in the 2004 awards season, earning her a nomination for best director. The movie, about two lonely Americans who become friends after meeting at a Tokyo hotel, was also nominated for best picture.

Though it didn't win in either of those categories, Coppola won the statue for best original screenplay. Coppola lost the directing category to Peter Jackson for "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King." Other nominees in the category included Fernando Meirelles ("City of God"), Peter Weir ("Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World"), and Clint Eastwood ("Mystic River").

Kathryn Bigelow, "The Hurt Locker" (2010)
Kathryn Bigelow oscar
Kathryn Bigelow.

Getty Images

Bigelow was the first female director to win an Oscar, and earned the award for her film "The Hurt Locker." The film follows an elite bomb disposal unit during the Iraq War.

Bigelow won over Quentin Tarantino ("Inglorious Basterds"), Lee Daniels ("Precious"), Jason Reitman ("Up in the Air"), and James Cameron ("Avatar").

Greta Gerwig, "Lady Bird" (2018)
Greta Gerwig
Greta Gerwig.

Getty Images

Gerwig was nominated for best director for her coming-of-age film "Lady Bird," which starred Saorise Ronan and Laurie Metcalf. Metcalf and Ronan were both nominated in acting categories, Gerwig was also nominated for the award for best original screenplay, and the film was nominated for best picture.

"Lady Bird" did not win any of those awards. The directing award that year went to Guillermo del Toro for "The Shape of Water."

ChloΓ© Zhao, "Nomadland" (2021)
chloe zhao holding an oscar on stage, wearing a taupe colored dress with flowing sleeves and a high neckline. her hair is worn in two long braids.
ChloΓ© Zhao accepting the award for best directing for "Nomadland."

Todd Wawrychuk/A.M.P.A.S. via Getty Images

ChloΓ© Zhao became the first woman of color to win the award for best director with her film "Nomadland." The film stars Francis McDormand a woman who pursues a nomadic lifestyle in the United States.

"Nomadland" also won the best picture award that year, and McDormand won the award for best actress. Zhao was also nominated for, but did not win, the Oscars for best adapted screenplay and best film editing.

Emerald Fennell, "Promising Young Woman" (2021)
emerald fennell wearing a green and pink sparkling gown, holding up an ocsars statuette and smiling
Emerald Fennell won the award for best original screenplay for "Promising Young Woman."

Chris Pizzello-Pool/Getty Images

Emerald Fennell was nominated for her film "Promising Young Woman" in 2021, but lost the directing award to Zhao that year.

"Promising Young Woman" was also up for best picture that year, but also lost to "Nomadland." Fennell, however, won the award for best original screenplay.

Justine Triet, "Anatomy of a Fall" (2023)
justine triet standing in a shimmering tent, surrounded by people. she's smiling and holding her oscar, wearing a shimmering pinstripe suit
Justine Triet won the award for best original screenplay for "Anatomy of a Fall."

Mike Coppola/Getty Images

Justine Triet was nominated for best director for her film "Anatomy of a Fall," a French film that stars Sandra HΓΌller (also nominated) as a woman attempting to prove that she's innocent of her husband's possible murder.

Triet did not win the directing award, which went to Christopher Nolan for "Oppenheimer." She and writing partner Arthur Harari did, however, win the award for best original screenplay.

Coralie Fargeat, "The Substance" (2024)
coralie fargeat at the golden globes. she's wearing a black textured strapless dress, with a protruding piece over her shoulder, and has her hair curly and loose. she's standing in front of a pink and white floral background
Coralie Fargeat at the 82nd annual Golden Globe Awards.

Amy Sussman/Getty Images

Fargeat is the ninth woman to be nominated for best director at the Academy Awards, and the tenth overall nomination.

Her film, "The Substance," stars Demi Moore as a actor in her 50s who, after being fired from a longtime gig, takes a drug that creates a younger version of herself, played by Margaret Qualley.

For the directing award, Fargeat is competing against Sean Baker ("Anora"), Brady Corbet ("The Brutalist"), James Mangold ("A Complete Unknown"), and Jacques Audiard ("Emilia PΓ©rez").

Carrie Wittmer contributed to a previous version of this article.

Read the original article on Business Insider

'Love Is Blind' stars Ashley and Tyler are ending their marriage. Here's how their relationship played out on TV and social media.

22 January 2025 at 14:15
left: ashley from love is blind in a brown dress and jacket; right: tyler from love is blind in a red jacket and white shirt
Ashley and Tyler from "Love Is Blind" season seven.

Adam Rose/Netflix

  • Ashley and Tyler from "Love Is Blind" faced a ton of off-screen drama.
  • Tyler was at the center of controversy over his admission he fathered three children.
  • The couple confirmed they are getting a divorce.

"Love Is Blind" season seven may be over, but the drama won't stop coming.

One of the biggest storylines from the season, which followed singles in Washington, DC, focused on the relationship between 34-year-old account manager Tyler and 31-year-old marketing director Ashley. They were one of only two couples (out of the six engaged pairs producers initially followed) to ultimately make it to the altar and get married in the finale.

Early in the season, Ashley and Tyler's relationship was relatively drama-free. That was complicated later on by Tyler's revelation in episode nine that he had been a sperm donor for a female friend and her wife β€” something that hadn't come up pre-engagement in the pods.

But this is "Love Is Blind," and much of the drama happens outside of the millions of eyes (and in turn, subscribers) that Netflix brings to each new season.

News that Tyler had fathered children broke on social media before it was ever addressed on the show, and claims that Tyler was more than a distant sperm donor to his children circulated as well. Ultimately, Tyler's sperm-donor controversy kept the show β€” and Netflix β€” in the news.

Now, three months after season seven was released on Netflix, Ashley confirmed that she and Tyler have split. Here's a recap of how their relationship played out on the show, the controversy that unfolded on social media, and the decision to end their marriage.

Ashley and Tyler bonded in the pods and made it all the way to the altar, despite a brief hiccup over his kids

In episode one, Ashley is enamored by Tyler's nerves on their first date. They also bond over their shared love of cooking and food, their religious faith, and the fact that they both used to ride horses.

In the same episode, Tyler opens up to Ashley about how hard his mother worked to raise him and his siblings after his grandmother died and his grandfather cut his mother off. As a result, he says, he wants to have a "big family" β€”Β someone with whom he could share his love.

The couple celebrates Tyler's birthday on a date in episode three. Tyler proposes to Ashley, and she accepts. Later in that episode, they meet in person for the first time β€” and luckily, producers choose them to take the post-engagement trip to Mexico with five of the other couples.

Unlike some of the other couples, Ashley and Tyler don't have any significant on-camera tension while on vacation. All in all, the first batch of episodes, which premiered on October 2, leaves their relationship in a good place.

tyler and ashley on love is blind season seven walking down a stone path in the middle of a still pool. they're both wearing summer clothes, and tyler is holding ashley's hand in his won and kissing it while she smiles
Tyler and Ashley in "Love Is Blind" season seven, episode six.

Netflix

In episode eight, things continue moving along as Tyler gets Ashley's father's blessing. But their story takes a major turn in episodes nine and 10: Cameras capture Ashley and Tyler debriefing about an off-screen conversation in which he revealed that he already fathered three children.

Tyler tells Ashley that he served as a sperm donor for a female friend and her wife, who wanted to have a child. He also told her that the children didn't know what he looked like, and said that he wouldn't be upset if Ashley decided she didn't want to get married because he'd initially kept this information from her.

"I'm not upset by you trying to help a couple have kids. I think that's admirable in certain ways, but the issue comes in with me feeling like I was not getting the full picture of you," Ashley says in episode nine. "And once you're not given the full picture of something, it's hard to not question everything."

But the couple patches things up, and Ashley tells Tyler in episode 11 that she still wants to marry him β€” though she warns him that any similar revelations going forward may put that in jeopardy. Later in that episode, they make good on one of Ashley's pre-marriage wishes: going skydiving with her fiancΓ©.

In the season seven finale, Ashley and Tyler go on their respective bachelorette and bachelor parties, and then get married. They end the ceremony by jumping the broom β€” a wedding tradition with roots in American slavery, when Black slaves weren't able to legally wed and jumped a broom instead. Today, some Black Americans have reclaimed the tradition, incorporating it into their weddings as Ashley and Tyler did.

Ashley and Tyler were still married at the reunion β€”Β and said that their on-screen conversations didn't tell the full story

Ashley and Tyler at the Love Is Blind season 7 reunion
Ashley and Tyler were still happily married at the reunion.

Netflix

At the season seven reunion, which aired on October 30, Tyler and Ashley confirmed that they were still married. Tyler said that the almost-year that they had been married had brought "growth." Before the show premiered, they lived in a "bubble" β€” but after, they were subject to online commentary about their relationship.

In early October, soon after the first batch of episodes premiered on Netflix, allegations circulated online that Tyler had fathered three children, but lied to women that he'd dated about it. Photos appearing to show Tyler posing with the children, including one showing him wearing a shirt that says "Dope dad raising dope kids" while holding two of them, circulated online.

Of course, Ashley and Tyler addressed his children β€”Β and the fact that he didn't mention them in the pods β€”Β on the show. But what he told Ashley appears to contradict what people are saying online: namely, that the children don't know what he looks like.

Bri Thomas, a woman who identified herself online as the mother of Tyler's children, said that Tyler, who she said was her best friend at the time, had served as a sperm donor for her and her wife. However, after she and her wife separated, Bri said that Tyler became a co-parent to that child, and they later conceived twins naturally together.

According to Bri, the twins even have Tyler's last name. Bri said that she and Tyler didn't date, and she supported his decision to go on the show. However, she said that Tyler hadn't seen the children since September 30, 2023, the day before he left for filming.

Tyler and Ashley didn't explicitly address the controversy while the show was still airing. But after someone accused Tyler on Instagram of "trying to delete your past," he told them to "just be patient" and that he would "explain it all very soon."And on Tuesday, the day before the reunion aired on Netflix, he reposted a morning prayer from the Instagram account @kingofsolomon on his story.

"Help me to turn my trials into my testimonies," one bolded phrase in the prayer reads.

At the reunion, the couple finally spoke about how the controversy had played out both on- and off-screen.

"Those kids, that family, they did not sign up for this," Tyler said of the online controversy.

Tyler said that he had helped his friend and her wife have a child. After his friend's wife "left her high and dry," he decided to help his friend out with the children. According to Tyler, that's why he had been photographed spending time with the kids.

He did not explicitly name Bri as the friend. Bri did not immediately respond to an Instagram DM request for comment sent outside standard business hours.

"Ashley knows all this. This is news to the world. This has never been news to us," he said. "I'm giving this explanation now, because I feel like the world is waiting for it. But I don't owe anyone an explanation but my wife."

Ashley said that what viewers had seen wasn't the full picture and that she and Tyler had an off-camera conversation before they filmed their discussion about the issue. She said that while Tyler didn't want to speak about it on camera, she felt that they needed to address it so that she would be able to continue participating in the show.

However, Ashley said that there was some information that Tyler wasn't comfortable sharing on camera. In turn, she said that Tyler had lied to the cameras that the children didn't know what he looked like.

"Of course he divulged that information to me," Ashley said.

The couple said that they weren't letting online chatter affect their relationship.

"When I said 'I do,' I said 'I do' to all of it. I was aware and I took on what I wanted to," Ashley said. "And this is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of love. This is a rarity, and it's something that is worth risking anything for."

In a November podcast appearance, Ashley again defended Tyler and their marriage

Though Tyler hasn't given any interviews, Ashley has been making the rounds on the press tour and directly shutting down criticism. She most recently appeared on "The Viall Files" podcast in an episode released Wednesday, where she discussed the controversy in detail and further clarified what she knew about the situation when she decided to marry Tyler.

Ashley explained that Tyler had told her about the kids for the first time after a night out with fellow cast mate Nick Dorka. In that conversation, which wasn't filmed, Ashley was angry at him for withholding the information from her, feeling that he robbed her of the ability to make a fully informed choice. According to Ashley, the two spoke for hours, from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. the next morning.

The first filmed conversation after that revelation, shown in episode nine, happened the following day. At that point, Ashley said, she had packed her things and left the apartment, and Tyler believed she was leaving him and informed producers. Despite Tyler wanting to keep everything private to protect the kids and family, Ashley told him they needed to speak about it on camera because people would be able to tell her energy had changed.

After their first on-camera conversation about it, Ashley said they had an additional conversation later that night where Tyler went into more detail about the nature of his relationship with the kids. During that conversation, he showed her photos of him with the kids and explained how the situation had blurred the lines of a traditional sperm-donor arrangement.

Ashley said Tyler told her that all three of the kids were conceived via sperm donation with the intent that they'd be raised by Bri and her then-wife and that Tyler only stepped in when Bri's wife left her (which Ashley said happened while Bri was pregnant with the twins). Tyler told her that he'd previously been involved in the kids' lives in an uncle capacity, and that they were aware he was their biological father, but that he took on a bigger role in order to avoid Bri being a single mother.

Ashley maintained that Tyler was never in the kids' lives on a regular basis and that they'd never been to his apartment. She was aware of the photos of Tyler with the kids that circulated on social media while the season was airing (including the one where he was wearing a shirt that said "Dope dad raising dope kids") and claimed that Bri's mother, Lovetta Thomas, was the one who bought those clothes for Tyler and encouraged the kids to view him as their father.

Tyler told Ashley that before going on "Love Is Blind," he realized he needed to begin pulling back from the kids because the situation was getting confusing and he didn't feel connected to them because they were never meant to be his children. Bri was unhappy with that decision, according to Ashley, but Tyler cut ties with her and the kids before leaving for filming. She also said that the idea of Tyler and Bri having slept together was a "false narrative." She called it a mistake on Tyler's part to have blurred the lines so heavily.

Ashley also said that Bri had reached out to her on Instagram to apologize and say that she was praying for them and never intentionally meant to cause Ashley pain. According to Ashley, this outreach happened after Bri initially shared, and then deleted, a post insinuating Tyler abandoned the kids. However, Bri posted again about the situation on October 19, and those videos are still up; it's not clear whether Ashley's "Viall Files" conversation was recorded before or after Bri's new claims about Tyler and their relationship were made public, though host Nick Viall states in the episode that the conversation was recorded prior to the finale airing (October 23).

The major difference in Ashley's version of events and Bri's version is that Tyler told Ashley the twins were conceived via sperm donation. Bri, meanwhile, has said they were unplanned and conceived naturally and even had Tyler's last name.

Ashley said on "The Viall Files" that she had never seen the twins' birth certificate.

Ashley confirmed in January 2025 that she and Tyler had split

Ashley told People that she and Tyler had decided to end their marriage after they'd been separated for "several weeks."

"While I had hoped for mutual understanding and transparency in our relationship, it has become clear that our paths are no longer aligned, making it impossible for me to continue in this marriage," she told People.

"This was not a decision I made lightly, but one I know is necessary for my own growth and peace," she continued. "While this chapter is ending, I will always hold respect for the time and love we shared. I kindly ask for privacy during this deeply personal time as I focus on healing and building a new future. Thank you for your understanding and support."

In a statement to BI, Tyler confirmed the split, describing it as "an incredibly difficult and emotional process" that they approached with care and respect.

"While our journey together began with so much hope and love, we came to realize that there were challenges we couldn't overcome. I take full accountability for my role in the difficulties we faced, and I respect Ashley's decision to move forward in a way that prioritizes her peace and happiness," Tyler said.

"Ashley is an incredible woman, and I have nothing but admiration and gratitude for the love and support she has given me," he continued. "I ask for kindness and understanding as we both move forward separately, focusing on healing and growth. Thank you to everyone who has been a part of our journey."

"Love Is Blind" season seven, including the reunion, is now streaming on Netflix.

Read the original article on Business Insider

The 'Love Is Blind' season 8 trailer teases jaw-dropping revelations and plenty of drama

28 January 2025 at 11:01
"Love is Blind" season eight stars Alex, Brittany, and Joey in the audience during the season seven reunion.
"Love is Blind" season eight stars Alex, Brittany, and Joey in the audience during the season seven reunion.

Terence Patrick/Netflix

  • Season eight of Netflix's "Love Is Blind" premieres on February 14, 2025.
  • The new season features singles from Minneapolis, Minnesota.
  • Trailers for the new season have teased a couple that may have known each other before getting engaged.

Season seven of the Netflix dating show "Love Is Blind" featured singles from the Washington DC area who were trying to find love. But season eight will focus more on the heart β€”Β well, the heartland.

The franchise is moving to Minneapolis for its next season. The last time the show was in the Midwest was season two, which cast participants from the Chicago area.

Season eight is special for another reason β€” it will premiere on the fifth anniversary of the "Love Is Blind" franchise in February 2025. The franchise has been one of Netflix's most successful reality ventures and, per the company's own engagement data, has drawn in millions of viewers in 2023 and 2024. It's spawned nine international editions in countries including Japan, Brazil, and the UK. Season eight also won't be the franchise's last: Netflix has renewed it through season 10.

Here's everything we know about "Love Is Blind" season eight.

The 'Love Is Blind' season 8 premiere date and location have already been announced

Nick Lachey and Vanessa Lachey during the "Love Is Blind" season seven reunion.
Nick Lachey and Vanessa Lachey during the "Love Is Blind" season seven reunion.

Courtesy of Netflix

"Love Is Blind" season eight will premiere on February 14, 2025, featuring singles from Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The season 8 trailer features some shocking revelations

Netflix released a trailer for season eight on January 28 that teases some of the drama from the season β€” most importantly that two of the participants may have known each other before entering the pods. One woman says that she found her fiancΓ© familiar when they met face-to-face, and believed he knew "exactly what I looked like the entire time we were talking through the wall."

The trailer also hints at a love triangle, as well as allegations that one woman had a boyfriend before going on the show.

A previous teaser trailer for season eight included moments from earlier seasons of the show to commemorate its five-year anniversary. It also teased the same couple that knew each other before getting engaged.

"When the doors opened, that was not the first time that he saw me," one of the season eight participants says in a voiceover.

Viewers already got a preview of the 'Love Is Blind' season 8 cast

"Love Is Blind" season eight stars Alex, Brittany, and Joey in the crowd during the season seven reunion.
"Love Is Blind" season eight stars Alex, Brittany, and Joey in the crowd during the season seven reunion.

Terence Patrick/Netflix

For the first time ever, Netflix revealed some of the season eight cast members at the season seven reunion. Their names are Alex, Brittany, and Joey.

Alex said that he hadn't prioritized dating in his life and Minneapolis is a "small community."

"You kind of see the same people over and over, and it's a small bar scene," Alex said. "I just never found the right person that clicked for me, but I'm excited to be here."

A little over two weeks before the season eight premiere, Netflix released the full season eight cast list.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Not even a Cameron Diaz comeback can save Netflix's utterly banal 'Back In Action'

17 January 2025 at 15:13
A still from "Back in Action" showing Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx in suits.
Cameron Diaz as Emily and Jamie Foxx as Matt in "Back in Action."

John Wilson / Netflix

  • "Back in Action" is Cameron Diaz's first film role in over a decade.
  • Unfortunately, it's a poor comeback vehicle with rough dialogue and a thin plot.
  • The film works fine as a casual watch, but not much else.

"Back in Action" is Cameron Diaz's first film role in over a decade. She should have made a better choice for a comeback.

The film, directed by Seth Gordon, is capital-F "Fine" at best and mediocre background watching at worst. Given that this is the movie Jamie Foxx miraculously recovered from a stroke to complete, one would hope the end product inspired stronger enthusiasm.

The aptly titled film stars Diaz and Foxx as Emily and Matt, suburban parents who were elite spies before having their first child and pivoting to coaching soccer and selling puzzles on Etsy. "Back in Action" kicks off 15 years in the past during their last mission together to steal an Industrial Control Systems key (don't worry about it) from a Eastern European crime lord. They succeed, but terrorists attack them on the plane back to safety. Presumed dead, Matt and Emily use the plane crash to disappear and raise the child that Emily has just learned she's carrying.

This opening sequence does little to establish Matt and Emily's relationship, or even their individual characters, past a few entertaining punches, quippy one-liners, and saccharine expressions of sincerity. "My favorite person is about to create my new favorite person," Matt tells Emily, despite having to clarify moments before that they were exclusive.

andrew scott as baron in back in action. he's a man with short air wearing a grey overcoat and standing in front of a british police car
Andrew Scott as Baron in "Back in Action."

John Wilson/Netflix

Their extremely normal life only gets blown up because Matt and Emily are caught on tape beating up a few guys ("BOOMERS WRECK DANCE PARTY") while picking their underage daughter Alice (McKenna Roberts) up from the club. With Alice and their son Leo (Rylan Jackson) in tow, they go on a quest to pick up the ICS key from Emily's mother Ginny (Glenn Close β€” why not?) and unite their family through espionage. Andrew Scott and Kyle Chandler are also in this film, for some reason, and are mostly wasted in their roles.

Aside from one tepid but somewhat surprising twist, "Back in Action" is a mΓ©lange of spy tropes, embarrassingly bad and self-explanatory dialogue, and trite familial conflicts. The film's emotional appeal hinges on Emily's relationships with Alice, who rebels against her for standard Teenage Girl Reasons, and her mother Ginny, whom she hates for being absent in her childhood. Simple friction leads to simple payoffs.

The film's fight sequences slightly redeem it, mostly because it's fun to watch Diaz and Foxx beat up some classic goons in tandem. However, the movie insists on soundtracking those fights to classic hits like Nat King Cole's "L.O.V.E." and Etta James' "At Last," seemingly in a bid to create a romantic, nostalgic atmosphere for its leads. To be fair, they have more chemistry in those moments than literally anywhere else in the film.

In the end, "Back in Action" is an unfortunate comeback choice for Diaz, and its script gives her and Foxx little to stand on through the film's nearly two-hour runtime. For audiences, it's a passable enough choice for a Friday night flick or folding laundry, but not much else.

"Back in Action" is streaming now on Netflix.

Read the original article on Business Insider

A comprehensive 'Severance' season 1 recap, because it's been a while

17 January 2025 at 10:30
Adam Scott in season two of "Severance."
Adam Scott in season two of "Severance."

Apple TV+

  • "Severance" is finally back, three years after it first aired on Apple TV+.
  • The series follows Lumon Industries' "severed" employees, who split their selves between work and home.
  • Here's everything you need to remember before watching season two.

"Severance" season one was a workplace satire like no other β€”Β and after a three year wait, the ambitious Apple TV+ series is finally back.

The show follows a group of employees who work at the mysterious Lumon Industries. Unlike others at the company, they've undergone the "severance" procedure, which splits them into two distinct selves: one that lives in the outside world, and one that exists only at work.

The show's first season raised more questions than it answered, and three years is a long time to remember all of the series' various plot threads, intricacies, and goat-related mysteries. Here's a recap of everything that happened in season one β€” and what you need to remember before diving into "Severance" season two.

adam scott as mark in severance season one. he's a middle aged man in a rumpled grey suit sitting at a retro computer in a green cubicle
Adam Scott as Mark S. in "Severance" season one.

Apple TV+

Mark S. is a "severed" employee at Lumon β€” and his new coworker Helly R. wants to leave.

Lumon Industries pioneered a workplace procedure called severance, which bifurcates a person's consciousness into two distinct entities by inserting a chip into their brain. Their "outie" exists in the outside world, while their "innie" exists at work. The split means that outies have no knowledge of their jobs β€” and innies have no knowledge of their outie's life outside the Lumon office. Sometimes, the severance technology is applied in other contexts: Mark's sister Devon encounters a mother who underwent severance so she wouldn't have to experience childbirth.

After his wife's death, Mark Scout (Adam Scott) accepts a job at Lumon as a Macrodata Refiner on the severed floor. He leads a team of three other employees: Dylan G. (Zach Cherry), Irving B. (John Turturro), and newcomer Helly R. (Britt Lower), who replaced their longtime colleague Petey (Yul Vazquez).

When Helly R. awakes on a conference table, she's hostile and wants to leave. Mark lets her go β€” but every time Helly attempts to exit the severed floor, the person she is on the outside forces her to reenter.

Helly Mark, Irving, and Dylan stare at lines of code all day, dragging numbers into buckets based on the emotional response they provoke. Employees work through files with names like "Tumwater" β€” but unfortunately, none of them have a clue what kind of work they're doing. It's rare for employees to finish files because they quickly expire, Dylan says β€” which makes finishing a file a big deal.

britt lower as helly in severance. she's a young woman in a teal skirt, blue t-shirt, and tan heels, with red hair. she looks disheveled and is sitting on the floor
Britt Lower as Helly R. in "Severance" season one.

Apple TV+

Helly persistently tries to leave her job at Lumon.

Helly attempts to formally resign from her job at Lumon, but her outie immediately denies the request. In turn, Helly attempts to send messages to her outie telling her that she wants to quit, to no avail. After one attempt to communicate with her outie, Helly is taken to the Break Room, where she's forced to repeat an apologetic monologue until supervisor Mr. Milchick (Tramell Tillman) determines that she means it.

Helly resorts to more extreme measures, threatening to cut off her fingers if she's not allowed to send a video message to her outie. In response, Helly's outie sends a video message denying her request and tells Helly that she's not a person.

As a last resort, Helly attempts to hang herself in the elevator. She survives, but her outie forces her to return. Ms. Casey (Dichen Lachman), the wellness counselor, is asked to observe her. When Mark and Helly escape Ms. Casey's supervision, she gets sent to the Break Room for punishment.

Lumon has a religious devotion to its founder, Kier Eagan.

The Lumon CEOs have all come from the Eagan line, and the office features numerous displays of reverence for the founder, Kier Eagan. Among those is the perpetuity wing, which features figures of members of the Eagan line and dedicates an entire section to Kier himself.

Lumon espouses many of Kier's philosophies, including his four tempers β€” woe, frolic, dread, and malice β€” that he believed determine a person's character.

Devotion to Kier isn't just the company line for some. Mark's boss, Harmony Cobel (Patricia Arquette), genuinely worships the founder and has a shrine to him in her home.

jen tullock and adam scott as devon and mark in severance. they're standing in a forest scape, seen looking through a window
Jen Tullock and Adam Scott as Devon and Mark in "Severance" season one.

Apple TV+

In the outside world, Mark lives a lonely life.

While innie Mark is cheerful, outie Mark bears the weight of his wife's death. His sister Devon (Jen Tullock) is skeptical of his job, especially after he returns from work with an injury and a gift card to Pip's, a local bar and grill, as recompense.

When Mark goes to Pip's, he runs into Petey, a man whom this version of himself has never met. However, Petey is unsevered now, and he thinks Lumon is out to get him. Petey hands Mark a red envelope and says that even if he dies, the information he collected needs to be preserved.

There's another surprise in the outside world: Mark's neighbor, Mrs. Selvig, is actually Harmony Cobel, his innie's boss.

patricia arquette as harmony cobel in severance season one. she's a woman with grey hair sitting in front of a computer, looking focused
Patricia Arquette as Harmony Cobel in "Severance" season one.

Apple TV+

Petey is involved with a group trying to end severance, and it's a big problem for Lumon.

When Mark visits Petey on the outside, he finds Petey ill from something he's calling "reintegration sickness," caused by the fusion of his two personalities. Mark takes him in, but Petey doesn't have many answers about their job at Lumon.

Before his dismissal, Petey's innie made a map of the severed floor, which Mark discovers and eventually shreds. On the outside, Petey was working with a group trying to end severance. His point of contact was a doctor named Raghabi, who reintegrated him. Eventually, Petey collapses and dies, presumably from the reintegration sickness.

In the aftermath, Harmony attends Petey's funeral, where she steals his severance chip directly from his skull. Lumon security officer Graner (Michael Cumpsty) tests the chip and confirms that Petey's memory was reintegrated.

Mark eventually makes contact with Raghabi, and she tells him that she was the one who did his severance procedure. When Graner turns up, however, Raghabi beats him to death with a baseball bat. She gives Mark Graner's security card and says that his innie will know what to do with it.

christopher walken and john turturro as burt and irving in severance. burt is wearing a light blue overcoat and white shirt with tie, while irving is in a navy jacket with a blue shirt and tie
Christopher Walken and John Turturro as Burt and Irving in "Severance" season one.

Apple TV+

Irving strikes up a friendship with Burt from O&D, despite tension between their departments.

After falling asleep at his desk β€” and witnessing a horrifying vision of goopy black paint invading his workspace as a result β€” Irving gets sent to meet with Ms. Casey, who reads him a list of pleasing, supposed facts about his outie.

There, he runs into Burt (Christopher Walken), the Optics & Design department chief. Macrodata Refinement and O&D don't typically get along due to a rumor that O&D once tried to execute a coup.

Irving pursues a friendship with Burt, but later learns that O&D is a much larger department than Burt told him. Irving and Dylan corner Burt in a conference room, and he tells them that O&D doesn't trust MDR either. After speaking, they tentatively reconcile.

Irvin and Burt's relationship continues to deepen, and they nearly kiss. Unfortunately, Burt retires β€” effectively meaning that his innie ceases to exist, and Irving will likely never see him again.

zach cherry, britt lower, john turturro as dylan, helly, and irving in severance season one. they're all dressed in blues and green office wear and standing in a breakroom
Zach Cherry, Britt Lower, and John Turturro as Dylan, Helly, and Irving in "Severance" season one.

Apple TV+

MDR stages a revolution, with shocking consequences.

After Dylan takes a card from O&D, Milchick awakens his innie on the outside to confirm where he left the card. While awakened on the outside, Dylan sees his outie's son.

The incident inspires MDR to attempt to awaken themselves on the outside, using Graner's security card that Mark found in his pocket. After hitting their target for the quarter, Dylan earns a waffle party, meaning that he'll be at the office after hours.

Before they leave the office that day, Mark and Helly kiss. After sitting through his reward, which features a performance from lingerie-clad dancers wearing the masks of Kier's four tempers, Dylan initiates the "overtime contingency" (OTC), awakening his colleagues on the outside.

Irving awakens alone in his apartment, and attempts to locate Burt on the outside. When he does, however, he discovers that Burt has a husband.

Mark wakes up at his brother-in-law Ricken's book launch party, where he recognizes Harmony Cobel. Despite having been suspended by the Lumon board, Cobel runs back to the office when she realizes that Mark's innie is on the outside. At the party, however, Mark sees a photo of his wife Gemma and realizes she's still alive as Ms. Casey, the severed floor wellness counselor.

dichen lachman as ms. casey in severance, wearing a dark sweater, grey skirt, and white collar. she has short black hair cropped into a bob and folded her hands in front of her body
Dichen Lachman as Ms. Casey in "Severance" season one.

Apple TV+

Unfortunately, Ms. Casey was forced to retire after a final wellness session with Mark. The circumstances of her severance were also different from his: during that session, she told him that she was mostly awakened in 30-minute increments and had only been "alive" for 107 total hours. After the session, and at Cobel's request, Milchick sent her down a dark hallway to the testing floor.

Helly's identity reveal is the biggest shock: she's Helena Eagan, heir to Lumon. She awakens at a company event where she's supposed to speak firsthand about the benefits of severance. While there, she meets her father, Jame Eagan, who tells her that the world will adopt severance chips and become "Kier's children."

Cobel tries to stop Helly from speaking at the event but is unsuccessful. When it's time to give her speech, Helly goes rogue and exposes herself as Helena's innie, telling the crowd gathered there that she and the other innies are "prisoners" of the company.

There are also some goats and a few other loose ends.

While wandering around the halls of the severed floor, Mark and Helly encounter a room full of goat kids. A man bottle-feeding one tells them that "they're not ready" and that "it isn't time." He rushes them out.

Irving's outie is also an artist, but when we meet him on the outside, it turns out that he keeps painting the same black hallway, using paint that resembles the goop his innie sometimes hallucinates. This hallway resembles the one that Ms. Casey walks down on her way to the testing floor.

Mark's brother-in-law, Ricken, also accidentally wrote a religious text for the innies. After Ricken dropped it off on outie Mark's front porch, Cobel stole it and brought it to the Lumon office. There, innie Mark and Dylan both begin to read from the book, and internalize some of its worker-specific messages.

"Severance" season two premieres on Apple TV+ on January 17.

Read the original article on Business Insider

'Severance' season 2 proves it's still one of the best shows on television

17 January 2025 at 09:27
adam scott as mark in severance season two. he's a man with thick brown hair, wearing a dark suit with a white shirt and patterned tie. he's looking inquisitively, or perhaps skeptically, at something in front of him
Adam Scott as Mark S. in "Severance" season two.

Apple TV+

  • "Severance" season two measures up to its ambitious, impressive first season.
  • The Apple TV+ series premiered in 2022, but the three-year gap between seasons was worth it.
  • The show continues to pursue deeper mysteries while probing what it means to be human.

When "Severance" premiered in 2022, it felt like a revelation. Darkly funny, sharply stylish, and frequently inscrutable, Dan Erickson's workplace satire was unlike anything else on television.

The Apple TV+ series' second season, in the six episodes I've seen, is just as befuddling, compelling, and immersive as its predecessor. Despite the three-year gap between seasons one and two, "Severance" doesn't miss a beat, nor does it stumble as it prods at the mysteries behind Lumon Industries. It also dives deeper into the ethical and ontological questions behind Lumon's severance procedure: When the body is split between two minds, to whom does it belong?

In season one, "innie" Mark S. (Adam Scott) and his colleagues Dylan (Zach Cherry), Helly (Britt Lower), and Irving (John Turturro) temporarily busted out of their corporate prison into the real world, invading their "outie" counterparts to spread the word about what their lives were actually like at Lumon. In the process, Mark learned that his wife, Gemma, was still alive, sucked into the Lumon machine. And Helly, after fighting tooth and nail to escape her corporate prison, learned that she was one of its stewards on the outside: Helena Eagan, the daughter of Lumon's CEO.

adam scott and britt lower in severance season two. they're both dressed in shades of blue, and holding each other at arms length while looking intensely into each others' eyes
Scott and Britt Lower as Mark and Helly in "Severance" season two.

Apple TV+

Despite those bombshells, season two follows a similar, if more immediately unnerving, rhythm. Lumon is keen to get Mark back to work, even if it means motivating him by bringing back his fellow seditious macrodata refiners and praising their actions as a righteous uprising. The innies haven't forgotten what they saw on the outside, but despite a new quest to find Mark's wife and a marginally clearer understanding of the outside world, they're just as lost as they were before.

Without divulging any spoilers β€” trust me, you should be tuning in each week β€” I can say "Severance" is in no rush to give Mark, or any of us, answers. This is a show that rewards rewatching and keen eyes, though neither is necessary to have a good time. What makes the show still feel exceptional is that it doesn't get too bogged down in its lore.

At its core, "Severance" is a series about what it means to be, and it doesn't forget that. While the innies claw at any hint of agency, their outies grapple with the notion that their severed consciousness has desires of its own. In season one, before Mark realizes that Ms. Casey is actually his outie's wife, he tells her that they're "people, not parts of people." In season two, all parties involved put that notion to the test.

britt lower, adam scott, john turturro, and zach cherry in severance season two as helly, mark, irving, and dylan. they're all wearing dark fur coats and hats, standing outside in a wintry landscape
Lower, Scott, John Turturro, and Zach Cherry as Helly, Mark, Irving, and Dylan in "Severance" season two.

Apple TV+

As with season one, "Severance" season two is astoundingly well designed, scored, and shot from the jump, opening with a delightfully frenetic sequence of innie Mark rushing through the empty white halls of the severed floor. While the stakes are more apparent now, the show doesn't lose its absurdist sense of humor or play, tossing in new characters like the puzzling Miss Huang (Sarah Bock), a child working alongside Mr. Milchick (Tramell Tillman). Scott's impressive performance as two facets of the same man continues to anchor the ensemble, but everyone β€” Lower, Turturro, Cherry, and Tillman in particular β€” is at the top of their game.

Ultimately, season two iterates on what made its first season so spectacular while continuing to complicate the thorny world it's created. Like its characters, it's multifaceted: You can read "Severance" as a doggedly literal commentary on the hell of capitalism, as a theory-crafting show in the tradition of "Lost," or as an ambitious character drama trying to get to the core of what it means to be human. Regardless of how you experience it, one thing is true: "Severance" is still one of the best shows on television.

"Severance" season two premieres on January 17 on Apple TV+, with new episodes dropping weekly on Fridays.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Myka Stauffer, the YouTuber who placed her adopted son with a new family, is the subject of a docuseries. Here's where she is now.

15 January 2025 at 09:27
key art for an update on our family, a max documentary series. it shows a woman with blonde hair and the side of a man, depicted in a grainy youtube play window
"An Update On Our Family."

HBO

  • Myka Stauffer was a family YouTuber who chronicled her adoption of a child with medical needs from China.
  • She and her husband faced backlash in 2020 when they said they were placing their son with a new family.
  • Now, Myka is the subject of a new docuseries. Here's where she is today.

In May 2020, parenting YouTubers Myka and James Stauffer posted a video that would change their life.

In the since-deleted video titled "an update on our family," the Stauffers said that their son Huxley, whom they had adopted from China in 2017, had "a lot more special needs" than they had initially been aware of. After pursuing treatment and consulting medical professionals, the Stauffers said that they had made the decision to place Huxley with a "new forever family" who would be better able to care for him. Before deleting their channel, it had over 700,000 subscribers.

The Stauffers faced backlash online for their decision, as well as criticism that they had profited from content about Huxley's adoption before placing him with a new family. Fabletics, Kate Hudson's athletic wear brand, as well as other brands including Chili's and Big Lots cut ties with Myka.

Now, the Stauffers β€” and the family vlogging ecosystem at large β€”Β are the subject of the documentary series "An Update on Our Family." The series, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2024, will air on HBO and Max starting January 15. It examines Huxley and the Stauffer family's story and the family vlogging ecosystem in which they existed.

Here's what we know about where Myka Stauffer is today.

Myka Stauffer left social media and hasn't posted since 2020

On June 24, 2020, Myka posted a statement to her Instagram account addressing the controversy around Huxley. In it, she said that she was "naive, foolish, and arrogant," and wished that she had been more prepared when she and her husband adopted him.

"I wanted to help so bad I was willing to bring home any child that needed me," she wrote.

Myka also said in the statement that she and James did not "adopt a child to gain wealth," writing that revenue from their videos featuring Huxley was put back into his care.

"We love Huxley and know that this was the right decision for him and his future," she said. "Praying that Huxley only has the best future in the entire world."

Since then, Myka has not publicly posted on her main Instagram account. Her personal YouTube channel and the family's channel, The Stauffer Life, have been deleted.

While Myka no longer posts online, James maintains his car detailing channel Stauffer Garage.

Myka and James' lawyers, Thomas Taneff and Taylor Sayers, told People in 2020 that the Stauffers had consulted medical and education professionals while caring for Huxley.

"Over time, the team of medical professionals advised our clients it might be best for Huxley to be placed with another family," they said.

The Stauffer family did not participate in 'An Update on Our Family'

The Stauffer family, who The Columbus Dispatch reported lives in Columbus, Ohio, did not participate in "An Update on Our Family."

Executive producers Rachel Mason and Rachel Knudsen told Business Insider that they attempted to reach the Stauffers multiple times while making the docuseries.

"We wanted them to participate, and also understand them not reaching back out to us," Knudsen told BI.

"We trust that their decision is their decision, and what's best for their family," she continued.

Email addresses that appeared to be associated with Myka Stauffer and the email address associated with James Stauffer's YouTube channel did not immediately respond to BI's request for comment.

"An Update On Our Family" premieres on HBO and Max on January 15 at 9 p.m. ET/PT and will air for three weeks.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Ukrainian orphan Natalia Grace's adoptive parents accused her of being an adult who was posing as a child. Here's where Kristine and Michael Barnett are now.

Kristine and Michael Barnett on a couch
Kristine and Michael Barnett faced neglect charges after abandoning Natalia Grace in Indiana.

Michael Barnett/ID

  • "The Curious Case of Natalia Grace" and "Good American Family" both tell the story of Natalia Grace.
  • Kristine and Michael Barnett adopted the Ukranian orphan and petitioned a court to re-age her.
  • Natalia no longer lives with the Barnetts, who have divorced. Here's what we know about them today.

The complex story of Natalia Grace Mans and the legal saga involving her former adoptive parents has been adapted for the small screen multiple times.

First came ID's docuseries "The Curious Case of Natalia Grace," which premiered in 2023 and aired its third and final season in January. Two months later, a new scripted miniseries, "Good American Family," premiered on Hulu.

The ripped-from-the-headlines drama stars Imogen Faith Reid as Natalia, a Ukrainian orphan with a form of dwarfism called spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia. She is adopted by Kristine and Michael Barnett, a married couple played by Ellen Pompeo and Mark Duplass, respectively. Across eight episodes, their relationship and family dynamic unravels as they begin to suspect Natalia is lying about her age β€” culminating in a legal clash in the season finale.

In real life, the Barnetts eventually abandoned Natalia after claiming she was actually an adult pretending to be a child.

Imogen Faith Reid, Ellen Pompeo, and Mark Duplass star in Hulu's "Good American Family."
Imogen Faith Reid, Ellen Pompeo, and Mark Duplass star in Hulu's "Good American Family."

Disney/Ser Baffo

The now-divorced couple, who said they believed Natalia to be 6 years old when they first adopted her in 2010, accused Natalia of making violent threats against family members β€” including trying to poison Kristine β€” and claimed she had pubic hair and menstrual cycles. Natalia has consistently denied all of the Barnetts' claims regarding her violent behavior and faking her age.

After sending their adopted daughter to a psychiatric hospital, Michael and Kristine became convinced that Natalia was secretly an adult and successfully petitioned in court to change Natalia's age from eight to 22, altering her birth year from 2003 to 1989. The Barnetts then moved Natalia into an independent apartment, first in Westfield, Indiana, in 2012, and then in Lafayette, Indiana, in 2013, and left the country, moving to Canada to support their eldest son's graduate education.

In 2019, they faced neglect charges in connection to Natalia's case. Michael was acquitted of the charges in October 2022, and the charges against Kristine were dismissed in March 2023.

"The Curious Case of Natalia Grace" first aired on Investigation Discovery in May 2023 and focused on the Barnett family's perspective. In the second part of the documentary series, titled "Natalia Speaks," which aired in January 2024, Natalia told her side of the story. The third installment, titled "The Final Chapter," premiered in January 2025 and focuses on her departure from the Mans family.

In "Natalia Speaks," Natalia alleged that her adoptive mother, Kristine Barnett, abused her as a child and coached her to say that she was older than she actually was. Michael said in a conversation with Natalia featured in the documentary that his ex-wife also manipulated him, and said that Kristine, who didn't participate in the docuseries, was cruel to Natalia.

When reached for comment, Kristine Barnett said in an email to Business Insider that allegations that she "abandoned" or "abused" Natalia were false, maintaining that Natalia was determined to be an adult by parties other than herself and Michael. She said that she had declined to participate in the ID docuseries.

"The 'evidence' presented on the TV show did not go through the courts or any legal standards to be verified as true," she said.

Here's everything we know about where Michael and Kristine Barnett are now.

Michael and Kristine split in 2014

The Barnetts split up long before they made their claims against Natalia public in 2019.

The Lafayette Journal & Courier reported that Michael Barnett left Canada in late 2013 and moved back to Indianapolis. Per court documents accessed by USA Today, Kristine said Michael moved back to Indiana after an unspecified "incident impacting the children" in fall 2013 before filing for divorce from her in February 2014. Their divorce was finalized four years later.

Michael later remarried, he says in the docuseries.

In 2019, the former couple were charged with neglecting Natalia

Kristine Barnett sitting on the sidewalk with her kids, including Natalia Grace
Kristine Barnett sitting on the sidewalk with her kids, including Natalia Grace.

Michael Barnett/ID

While Natalia was legally an adult due to the Barnetts re-aging her in court, she was still classified as a dependent of the Barnetts as a result of her disability.

In 2019, Michael and Kristine were charged with neglect of a dependent, Fox 59 reported citing court documents filed in Tippecanoe County in Indiana. According to the Lafayette Journal & Courier in 2022, the couple were specifically charged with neglect of a dependent, neglect of a dependent causing bodily injury, neglect of a dependent causing serious bodily injury, and conspiracy to neglect a dependent.

Testifying in court against Michael during his trial, Natalia explained how her rare kind of dwarfism can cause skeletal abnormalities and issues with vision and hearing. According to Natalia, she was unable to bathe herself or use a washing machine due to her mobility issues and subsisted mostly on instant noodles, pizza, and peanut butter sandwiches while living on her own in Indiana.

Michael Barnett was acquitted of neglect charges after a jury trial

Per theΒ Journal & Courier, Michael turned himself in to authorities in September 2019 and was released on bond. At the time, records indicated that he lived in Indianapolis.

According to theΒ same publication, an October 2019 gag order prohibited anyone involved in the case from making public comments about it.

Michael was acquitted of the charges in October 2022. In the documentary series, Natalia says that Michael reached out to her to speak after the gag order was lifted. During the conversation, he said that he and Natalia had "the same monster" in Kristine, but ultimately stormed out of the encounter after Natalia's guardian, Bishop Antwon Mans, asked him to stop swearing.

A lawyer for Michael Barnett declined to comment when reached by Business Insider.

Michael Barnett also appeared in "The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter," which premiered in January 2025. He said that he hoped Natalia would be able to "find happiness."

"I'm just trying to move on. I'm gonna do everything I can to not think about it," Michael said in episode one of "The Final Chapter."

Kristine Barnett's neglect charges were dismissed

Kristine and Jacob Barnett, with Kristine holding the book she wrote.
An image of Kristine and Jacob Barnett, with Kristine holding the book she wrote, provided by Michael Barnett.

Michael Barnett/ID

Kristine turned herself in shortly after Michael in September 2019, according to the Journal & Courier. At the time, her jail records showed that she lived in Bradenton, Florida, though the charges listed an Indianapolis address.

In March 2023, a Tippecanoe County judge signed the order to dismiss the charges against Kristine, per the Journal & Courier, citing "insufficient evidence" at trial to prove the charges in this case beyond a reasonable doubt."

In 2013, Kristine published the book "The Spark: A Mother's Story of Nurturing, Genius, and Autism" about raising her son Jacob. In a January 10 audio space on X, which Kristine sent to BI via email, she said that the allegations against her interfered with her career as a parenting author and consultant.

"I don't know when I'll be back to work. I want to be back to work," Kristine said in the space around the 2:06:00 mark. "I've been waking up every day for the past five years mourning the fact that my work is gone. I hope I get it back."

Read the original article on Business Insider

Natalia Grace had reactive attachment disorder, caused by trauma and neglect. RAD makes it difficult for kids to bond with their parents.

natalia grace mans sitting on her bed, smiling slightly and wearing glasses. she's wearing a green t-shirt, her hair is cut to her collarbone, and her nails are painted. the bedspread is white, with blue and white pillows and a small green stuffed cat toy
Natalia Grace Mans sitting on her bed in "The Curious Case of Natalia Grace."

Investigation Discovery

  • Natalia Grace Mans spoke about being diagnosed with reactive attachment disorder.
  • RAD is a rare condition in which children fail to form healthy relationships with their caregivers.
  • Natalia said in "The Curious Case of Natalia Grace" that she felt her diagnosis was "understandable."

In "The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter," Natalia Grace Mans speaks about being diagnosed with reactive detachment disorder.

Reactive attachment disorder (RAD) is a condition in which children do not form healthy relationships with their caregivers. Legal analyst Beth Karas said in episode six of "Natalia Speaks," the second installment of the series, that Natalia was diagnosed with RAD in 2010, while she was living with her then-adoptive parents Michael and Kristine Barnett.

Since then, Natalia β€” who was first adopted from a Ukrainian orphanage to the United States in 2008 β€” has lived with multiple families. In 2010, she was adopted by the Barnetts, who came to believe she was an adult and petitioned in court to change her birth year from 2003 to 1989. The Barnetts moved Natalia into an independent apartment in 2012, and in 2013, she met Cynthia Mans and moved in with her family. Antwon and Cynthia Mans adopted Natalia in 2023, but later that year, she left their home to live with Nicole and Vince DePaul, who attempted to adopt her when she was a child, in upstate New York.

In "Natalia Speaks," Natalia said that her diagnosis was "understandable."

"I still don't know the full length of reactive attachment disorder, but I know one thing for me is that I don't like being left," she said in episode four of "The Final Chapter." "I constantly feel like people are just going to walk out of my life."

RAD makes it very hard to connect with others

mackenzie depaul, natalia grace, nicole depaul, and vince depaul in the depaul family kitchen. the kitchen is full of cooking ingredients spices, and equipment, and is designed with shorter countertops.
Natalia Grace Mans with Mackenzie, Nicole, and Vince DePaul in their home.

Investigation Discovery

In episode four of "The Final Chapter," Nicole DePaul speaks to rehabilitation psychologist Melissa Misegadis about Grace's former RAD diagnosis.

"Reactive attachment disorder is what happens when children don't bond to their caregivers," Misegadis said in the show. It's recognized in the DSM-5, the standard classification of mental disorders in the US.

Symptoms include a failure to play with other kids, lack of eye contact, and unexplained fear.

While RAD can resemble a disorganized attachment style, attachment styles are more fluid and describe differences in how people connect in relationships. RAD qualifies as a disorder because of the severity of its symptoms, such as behavior problems.

Childhood abandonment is a huge risk factor

Misegadis wasn't surprised that Grace has RAD. "Individuals with unaddressed trauma like Natalia has, these are behaviors that are coming from years of rejection and trauma," she said in the show.

According to the Mayo Clinic, risk factors for developing RAD include losing a parent early in life (or having a severely neglectful parental figure), spending time in orphanages with no loving adult figures, and cycling through foster homes.

"I constantly feel like people are just going to walk out of my life," Grace said in the show. "I personally can't handle someone leaving me anymore. I can't handle caring about somebody and then they walk away."

natalia grace barnett, wearing a green dress, her hair long and brown, and sitting in a purple wheelchair in a yellow painted room
Natalia Grace in the documentary series "The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks."

Investigation Discovery

Rita Soronen, president and CEO of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, previously told Business Insider that international adoptions like Grace's often don't provide much background. As a result, parents who adopt or foster kids can be shocked by RAD symptoms, rehoming their kids in the end.

RAD treatment usually requires therapy

Left untreated, RAD can lead to long-term consequences, like substance abuse disorder, depression, and difficulty forming relationships.

Treatment usually involves therapy, social skills classes, or parenting classes to help caretakers effectively manage their kids' behaviors. Though Natalia declined mental health services during production, producer Shannon Evangelista told The Hollywood Reporter, she told People that started seeing a therapist after she had a panic attack in 2024.

So far, Natalia said she feels "free" living with the DePauls, who initially tried to adopt her in 2003. She says in episode four of "The Final Chapter" that she's "not really talking" to the Mans.

"Did she probably do weird things in the past? Yeah," Nicole DePaul told People. "[But] when you take in a child, you take that child as your own. You don't just get rid of them when they don't fit into your puzzle."

"The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter" is now streaming on Max.

Read the original article on Business Insider

❌
❌