Pop Culture News Nuggets: Latest in Hollywood, True Crime + Más

In this week's episode, host Maddy McClain shares 7 pop culture nuggets including news about Channing Tatum and Zoe Kravitz's engagement, Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker's baby, the renewal of 'The Bear' TV series, and the legal troubles of Tiger King's Doc Antle.  Taylor Tomlinson's upcoming late-night show and the expected release of Gypsy Rose Blanchard.

Easily Entertained will take a short hiatus after next week's episode (Nov. 15, 2023) until the new year, lookin' hotter than ever :)

Enjoy homies! Follow on IG @easilyentertainedpod

00:18 Introduction and Episode Format
01:42 Exciting Plans for Easily Entertained
02:47 Holiday Break and Revamp Announcement
04:56 Channing Tatum and Zoe Kravitz Engagement
08:02 Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker's Baby
10:15 The Bear Renewed for Third Season
10:54 SAG AFTRA Actor Strike
14:41 Taylor Tomlinson's Late Night Show
15:57 Doc Antle's Guilty Plea
19:44 Gypsy Rose Blanchard's Release
23:14 Conclusion and Future Plans

Sources/articles mentioned:
- Channing Tatum & Zoe Kravitz (Harper's Bazarre)
- Kourtney & Travis Barker's baby name (People)
- Actors Strike Update (Deadline)
- Tiger King's Doc Antle Pleads Guilty (The Independent)
- Gypsy Rose to be released early from prison (People)
- Gypsy Rose Full History (Oxygen)

Transcript

Hello homies and welcome to another episode of Easily Entertained with Maddie McClain and I am indeed Maddie McClain. It is so good to be here another week with you all catching you up on the shit show that is existing in the universe.  To the tune of 2023. Today, we have a little bit of a different episode.

A little bit different format. We're switching it up, you know what I'm saying? We're, we're shooting for breadth rather than depth this week.  Much like a trusty old Love Islander cracking on with everyone on the show, having a little banter here and there as it's early days before, they decide to graft for the one that turned their head the most convincingly. 

I love British slang and I love the Brits, um, so sorry. For those that have no idea what just happened, um, that was... Love Island. Uh, anyways, but all to say, this week, I'll be sharing seven pop culture nuggets to keep you abreast of the latest  in the zeitgeist, so you don't sound like a boob talking to your co workers. 

Ooh, I'm silly today. Hope you guys are in a silly, silly mood. Um, but before we dive into this episode, I wanted to keep you all informed of the exciting plans ahead for Easily Entertained. I have been so unbelievably flattered, humbled, and just generally overjoyed and thrilled by the support that I've received from this show, from family and friends, and hearing your feedback on the entertainment and the enjoyment that you're getting from this. 

This show is exactly what I aim to do, and I hope that you're having as much fun as me. So thank you for listening. Thank you so, so much. Um, that's exactly what I love doing and I'll be, I'll keep doing that. I do, I want to amp up the value, shall we say. Amp up the drama, the zhuzh. Um, remember I was voted most dramatic.

in high school, so I feel as though it is my duty to really bring that to this podcast here. Um, so with the holidays approaching, we will be taking a brief, I promise, time out from the game. Per se and regroup to give you more voices from incredible guests that are in the works and  you know, amp up the quality, get you some videos for those that are more visual and of course a whole lot more in store.

And for any Austin located fam, keep your eyes out for a relaunch party. I am. super excited about everything that is planned and just wanted to spend the holidays with the fam and really get to work so that when we come back in the new year that will be bigger, better than ever because that's just 2024 energy.

I can feel it. Okay, you can feel it, you can taste it. So that will be the same with this podcast. Um, so we will have an episode next week, November 15th, and then from there we'll be taking a break until the... the new year, and it will either be the first or second week of January, and I'll, of course, keep you updated on everything to do Easily Entertained, so do not forget about me.

I will not forget about you,  and keep up with us on Instagram at easilyentertainedpod.  I'll definitely still be sherpa ing you around the pop culture seas, so don't worry, I'll still be here. But in terms of our regularly programmed content, um, after next week's November 15th, we'll take a little hiatus for the holidays and for the revamp, and we'll see you in January.

So it'll be about a six week break. But we're not there yet, so do not worry. Without further ado, This week, I bring you a little bit of pop culture zingers. Let's do it, shall we? 

In case you missed it, because it was very easy to do so, as it was on Halloween weekend, but Channing Tatum and Zoe Kravitz are engaged, confirmed by sources last week, after Zoe was spotted wearing a huge fat ring by a paparazzi, taking their pics on the way to...  Of course, Kendall Jenner's Halloween party, because when you're famous, what else do you do? 

You go to Heidi Klum's, I suppose, but, I mean, I wouldn't mind an invite to either. So, Channing Tatum, our Mr. Magic Mike, is how I'll always remember him, and Zoe Kravitz, obviously a multi talented actress, but she's also a new director. So, Channing and Zoe... I met in 2021 when Zoe Kravitz scouted out Channing specifically for a role in her  upcoming movie called Pussy Island.

Color me intrigued. How can you not? So I looked up what the plot is. And according to IMDb, which was the kind of most detailed plotline I could find, and it goes as such, which is not very descriptive, but nonetheless, Frida is a young waitress in Los Angeles who has her eye on tech entrepreneur Slater King, aka Channing Tatum.

When she gets to go to an intimate meeting on his private island, Frida senses there's more to it than meets the eye. Honestly, that sounds like all of my favorite novels that I read, you know, that all have the titles of, like,  the and then insert, like, noun, preferably a location or, um,  proper noun. So, like, the river across the door, straight. 

The house across the lake, that's actually one, you know. The couple next to the floorboards, or whatever, which also reminds me there was a great, where the entire premise is making fun of that. It starred Kristen Bell, um, and it was called...  The woman and the house across the street from the girl in the window. 

So love it. It's poking fun out of all of my favorite kind of thriller, woman led fiction novels and TV shows, really, but it's really good. If you haven't seen it, it came out in 2022. So it's not. It's not that old, you know, but it's a good movie to watch. But anyways, I digress. Channing Tatum and his ex wife Jenna Dewan, they divorced in 2019, and they share a 10 year old daughter, and this 10 year old daughter has met and apparently loves Zoe Kravitz.

So  here we go. Another, another star couple.  Speaking of star couples, Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker welcomed their first child together. To break it down, Kourtney shares three kids, Mason, Penelope, and Reign with the Lord, Scott Disick. And Travis Barker shares three kids as well with his ex wife, Shannon Moakler, Landon, Alabama, and Atiana.

So, this is not their first, uh, rodeo, but their first joint rodeo, if you will, and they welcomed their baby earlier this week, and I believe have officially confirmed. It's like officially unofficial. You know how they always say sources close to the couple or whatever. That's what we got here according to people.

But the baby's name is Rocky 13 Barker. And you know what? There have been much crazier celeb baby names. So honestly, it could be far more unhinged. Take my personal favorite, Gwyneth Paltrow's child, Apple. Um, but really, I mean, the entire Kardashian Jenner family kind of does that already. I mean, Kourtney's own Reign, it's spelled like, may he reign forever. 

Or Long Reign,  the King Reigns, the, okay, you get my, you get the gist. Kylie Jenner's kids names are Air and Stormi. And then Kim's, North, Saint, Chicago, and Psalm. And then Khloe's,  I know Dream. I think is that all? Yeah, there's so many now. So they've just, like, got the next dynasty, or the next in line to inherit the dynasty.

So they're gonna be good for a long while, you know what I mean? Like, they're set. So congratulations, and happy Birthday? Yeah, yeah, yeah, the literal birthday. Happy birthday, Rocky XIII Barker. 

What else we got? Number three in our pop culture zingers, our nuggets, if you will. The TV series The Bear has officially been renewed for a third season on FX slash Hulu, where you can stream it. Season 1 has already been nominated for 13 Emmys, so it really doesn't come as a huge surprise, but more like a confirmed relief, like easing the anxiety of my  ever so worried soul, that the show will come back, Karmie and crew, as to exactly when 2024 is about as specific as they were able to get, given the fact that the SAG AFTRA actor strike is still ongoing.

So earlier this, last month rather, in October, the Writers Guild, they were able to come to a conclusion and negotiations were approved upon on both sides, and so the writers are back to work, but the actors in Hollywood still are not. And the weirdest rule that came out of this is on Halloween, they told, they being SAG AFRA,  told all of their members of the union, which is just, you know, all of Hollywood actors, not to dress up as characters from any of the big studios productions. 

Because that's just part of their protest, I suppose? I don't know. But whatever they did seems to actually be working. Well, what they did is make the entire industry and the California economy lose billions and billions of dollars. The last time I checked, let's see, from deadline, about 67 billion dollars so far.

Because of this strike that's lasted now about coming up on... 

It's been happening since this summer in July, so it's been a long time, the longest in history. But things are looking up and looking a bit positive, however, as of very recently on The seventh, um, lead negotiators let media groups know that they have found a solution when it comes to AI in Hollywood and the concerns that the actors are having on its effect on the way that they're paid based on streaming services and kind of essentially royalties.

Um, full details aren't confirmed yet. As they continue to work for the remaining items. So, according to deadline, AI negotiations include project specific protections and compensations to performers.  And this is all, I'm reading this from the article. Also on the table is an agreement on minimum rates.

SAG AFRA had wanted an 11 percent bump. The studios, the studios kind of the big players being Warner Bros. Discovery, um, NBC, Universal, those guys. These are what we, those are the groups we're referring to when we say the studios are large companies like that. Um, so the studios eventually offered seven percent, which is better than what the writers ended up getting in their strike.

Um, but the guild has quote since moved its ask to around nine percent and the two sides are said to be settling somewhere around eight.  Alright, sounds like a solid negosh. Um, let's see what else? Quote, the November 3rd offer from the  AMPTP, which is the studios essentially additionally includes, but is not limited to a multi decade wage increase and a 100 percent raise in performance compensation bonuses. 

So, it sounds like  they are feeling positive about a conclusion coming to the strike, which would bring back, you know, the pushed fall TV series and movies, and... Go back into production. So we shall see what comes of that very soon. 

Pop culture nugget number five. Comedian Taylor Tomlinson is set to be the youngest late night talk show host at age 29 with her 2024 upcoming show After Midnight on CBS.  Woohoo!  Yay! I love Taylor Tomlinson. She is a stand up comedian with quite a few specials, I believe, available on Netflix. She's great.

We've been in a bit of a woman drought when it comes to late night shows since Lilly Singh, Chelsea Handler, Samantha Bee, and bitches like that have left their talk night, talk night, have left their late night shows, but  Personally, I am such a big fan of Taylor Tomlinson, and I feel like she'll do a good job of relating to a wider audience while also, you know, catering to her bitches.

We'll see. We'll see. But that will be premiering in 2024. It has a very late night slot. It'll be 1237 AM, and that is East Coast time. 

What else we got? So, number six. Ding, ding, ding.  Doc Antle, who was made, I would say, infamous by Netflix's Tiger King, yep, throwback, aka the epitome  of the 2020 fever dream. Doc was the owner, well, is the owner and operator of the Institute for Greatly Endangered and Rare Species, which spells out, or acronym is Tigers.

How creative. Also known as the Myrtle Beach Safari. So it's a huge, huge preserve that offers, you know, private tours and experiences. Our... You know, Tours of the Public with the Exotic Wildlife, and  he was actually, his story, in particular, Doc Antle, his story was the center of a kind of follow up documentary on Netflix, um, that went into his questionable past, um.

So, he, the three part Netflix documentary came out in 2021 and kind of accused him, I guess, or painted him as this  almost cult leader esque personality, um, definitely a lot of allegations, and if you're interested in hearing more about that, I would highly recommend watching that documentary, can also cover that in a later episode.

But, um, Joe Exotic, of course, is currently serving out his lifetime in prison, um, behind bars after being found guilty of hiring multiple hitmen  to murder Carole Baskin.  Even saying the name Carole Baskin kind of gives me shivers, and not necessarily because of...  Just how off putting she is as an individual, but largely because that was the early days of the pandemic, and, um,  I don't know.

There was an innocence there. TikTok was a safer, safer space back then.  Uh, yeah. So, what happened with Doc Antle? Well, he has just pleaded guilty to violating the Lacey Act, which, essentially, it's the, it's the act that prohibits the trafficking of illegally taken wildlife.  Including animals protected by the Endangered Species Act. 

So, prosecutors say that between September of 2018 and May 2020, Antle directed the sale or purchase of two cheetah cubs, two lion cubs, two tigers, and one baby chimpanzee.  And also, get this, prosecutors say that between February and April of 2022,  Doc and a co conspirator laundered money that was obtained by transferring, whoa,  that was obtained by transporting and harboring  Illegal immigrants. 

So, he basically trafficked endangered species and illegal immigrants. So, now, he's facing a maximum penalty of five years in prison, which seems,  seems low, but whatever. I think there are other allegations.  that have yet to be officially filed against him or, you know, I guess found to be legitimate.  So, in the scheme of things, he's got, he is probably getting off quite easy.

But beyond the five years in prison, a fine up to 250, 000 and three years of supervised release for each count.  Yup, so another one bites the dust in Tiger King. But  you know who is leaving jail is Gypsy Rose Blanchard. So if you don't recall, gypsy Rose was a young woman who was abused by her mother, deedee due to her Munchausen by proxy disorder for years.

And eventually  Gypsy Rose was found guilty for her mother DeeDee's consequent murder. And, uh, now she's set to be released in December. However, because she was abused as a child by her mother, so Munchausen by proxy disorder is a really rare form of abuse in which a guardian exaggerates or induces illness in a child for attention and sympathy.

So they essentially make up and emotionally, physically abuse their children by convincing themselves. And or others, but largely others, that their child is super sick and they usually will get a million procedures done, surgeries, you know, and that eventually does make the child sick. Your brain is very, very, very, very powerful.

Um, it's crazy. It's awful. So, Her mother, Dee Dee, was doing that to her for years. She was, Gypsy Rose, was wheelchair bound. She was said to have had leukemia. She was on a feeding tube. She had all of these crazy, rare form of diseases as well. And basically this, that, and the other she was diagnosed with.

And now she's on, if you're on a ton of medication,  A, that's scary, but B, if you're on a ton of medication  for things you don't have, then that can cause you to be really sick. So that was, was what was happening. Teeth were falling out and stuff. It was horrible. And supposedly, her mother told her that she was never allowed to talk to the doctors during her visits and told everyone this is because she had the mind of a psycho.

seven year old. Meanwhile, she was 23 years old at the time of her mom's murder. So Gypsy Rose eventually met her, her, her.  So Gypsy Rose allegedly met her boyfriend at the time, Nick Gojohn, who she convinced to murder her mother. And he is serving a lifetime in prison, so he's never coming out. But, um. Yeah, so then, this was all discovered, the police tracked down Gypsy Rose and Nick Gojohn,  and while this is all going down, they did not know anything about the abuse that Gypsy Rose was suffering from, and, um, She eventually took a plea deal, and that's why she's not serving a lifetime in prison.

And, I mean, it definitely gets a little complicated, given the terrible mistreatment that she received from her mother. But, I mean, yeah, murder is bad, so. But, if you like true crime, and you have not seen it yet, there is a documentary on HBO called Mommy, Dead and Dearest, which is great, and then kind of a more dramatized version that's also...

I think, I mean, I enjoy the dramatized version, like, obviously, called The Act, and you can stream that on Hulu, so. That was this week's quick pop culture nuggets for you. I hope you enjoyed this kind of quicker, briefer format episode. We'll be back next week, of course,  and again, taking a little bit of a break after November 15th on Thanksgiving week and through the holidays where we'll come back bigger, better than ever.

And please, please, please feel free to DM me on Instagram at easily entertained. If you have any feedback whatsoever, if you have recommendations or, you know, wishlist guests for the podcast and. I will see you next week and you know what to do stay classy. I've never really had a, I don't know, got to work on the tagline, right? 

Thanks for listening guys. Enjoy your day. Love you homies. Bye.