“The video doing the rounds is me talking with women I go back over 20 years with – so please don’t say anything negative to or about them,” Anderson wrote on social media Sunday. “We’re thrilled to be doing this show but for people in the front row, please be aware that in such an intimate venue we can all see you and sometimes, it can be a tad distracting! That’s all. All good. On with the show and love to everyone and thank you to all of those coming.”

Anderson’s post addressed a video of her from the evening before, in which she was seen speaking to a group of women outside the sohoplace theater’s stage door, where it is commonplace for stars to interact with fans.

In the footage, Anderson advises the group, not seen on camera, that “you cannot sit in the front row, it’s so distracting” while signing autographs. She then laughed and said, “You can’t come 20 times and sit in the front row.”

Anderson is currently starring in the revival of Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” alongside Billy Crudup, Josh Dylan and Phoebe Horn at sohoplace in London’s West End. The production opened on Sept. 21 and will run through Dec. 19.

The post Gillian Anderson Clarifies Viral Video of Her Calling Fans ‘Distracting’: ‘I Go Back Over 20 Years’ With Them appeared first on TheWrap.

Johnson kicked off her “SNL” run this week with a joke about her failed 2024 superhero movie “Madame Web,” which she remarked she is still promoting because “it hasn’t made any money yet.” Afterward, the actress reflected on the other turns her life has taken since she last hosted “SNL.”

“I went through two very public, very lame breakups with two very awesome musicians. Looking for a third,” Johnson joked, referencing her splits from Coldplay frontman Chris Martin and Role Model singer-songwriter Tucker Pillsbury. While she vowed not to talk anymore about her personal life, Johnson’s monologue was derailed again after she noted that her new movie, “Verity,” is a psychosexual erotic thriller.

“So is dating musicians. Some of them don’t wear shoes. Some of them are terrible in bed. But all of them are in my DMs,” Johnson said. “Some people leave concerts with merch, and I leave concerts with a two-and-a-half year relationship.” Thankfully, Johnson said she has “good friends” who do not judge her for her dating choices.

Enter: Swift, whom Johnson called her “literal therapist,” much to the former’s discomfort. “I’m not your therapist, actually. You just show up once a week at my house with an empty bottle of wine and ask if I want some,” Swift said.

You can watch Johnson’s “SNL” monologue below.

Dakota Johnson’s monologue! https://t.co/ZxOi5zVZLF

— Saturday Night Live (@nbcsnl) October 4, 2026

Johnson argued that she shows up at Swift’s house because she has “manners,” but the “Patient Zero” singer-songwriter did not see it the same way.

“You plop on my couch and overshare, and every so often I just say, ‘Damn, that’s crazy,'” Swift explained. “And then I give you a pedialyte and my security drives you home.” Johnson, for her part, defended her taste in musicians as a “public service,” while Swift stood supportively next to her.

“I think actually I’m doing a public service by dating them because, ladies, I am saving you a lot of money on Zoloft,” Johnson said. “So you’re welcome, America… and also England and parts of Ireland and Cleveland, apparently.”

Swift’s appearance on “SNL” this week comes less than a week after she debuted the music video for “Patient Zero,” one of four “encore” deluxe tracks she released last week tied to her 2025 album, “The Life of a Showgirl.” Johnson starred in the “Patient Zero” music video as the current partner of a toxic man (Colin Farrell) who used to be with Swift’s ghostly character.

As part of the music video’s release, Johnson also presented Swift at the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards last Sunday night with the show’s inaugural Artist Directors Honors prize.

The post Taylor Swift Interrupts Dakota Johnson’s ‘SNL’ Monologue With Breakup Advice appeared first on TheWrap.

Two members of the Republican National Committee (“SNL” stars Ashley Padilla and Andrew Dismukes) noted at the top of the segment that the midterms are “looking bleak” for the GOP this year. It was with that in mind that they brought in Hernández’s Rubio, urging him to record a message convincing voters to back Republicans this year. Unfortunately, the Secretary of State just used his time to tell voters in Spanish that Trump “tricked” him into the Iran War.

A wheelchair-bound Mitch McConnell (Mikey Day) was not much help, either. All the Kentucky senator could muster was a slowly raised peace sign before he was wheeled out of the room again. Jost’s Hegseth then came in moments later with a can of Tom Holland’s “non-alcoholic b–h beer” to call on Republican voters in a manner only he could.

“I need all you patriots at home to do the gayest thing ever and vote,” Hegseth said, bragging, “I’m putting God back in war, and it’s working. Our soldiers are praying a lot more than they used to. I’m always hearing them say, ‘Dear God, why?'” Moving on, the Defense Secretary dished out some “weird slam poetry” urging everyday Republicans to show up at the polls this fall.

“No weak, no woke, no DEI, no guy-on-guy,” Jost’s Hegseth rhymed. “No weirdos, no beardos, no Jills who became Joes. In conclusion: Vote, I guess.”

You can check out tonight’s “SNL” cold open below.

the Republican National Committee takes on midterm ad campaigns https://t.co/6xn5F75XT1

— Saturday Night Live (@nbcsnl) October 4, 2026

After Jost’s Hegseth made his exit, it was time for Johnson’s Trump to have his turn in the spotlight. The president began his message to voters by assuring them that his promise to give every American $5,000 if Republicans win the House and Senate this fall is “not a bribe” because he has “no intention of following through on that promise.”

“Just pretend I’m on the ballot, OK? You have to use something called imagination. Imagination makes a MAGA Nation,” Trump said. “What a hellhole this country is! It’s full of awful people. So I know it’s hard, but please vote for Republicans, OK? And yes, that includes creepy Ken Paxton down there in Texas.”

Padilla and Dismukes’ RNC workers concluded the segment by asking Trump to record a victory message in case Republicans emerge victorious in the midterms. The president obliged, telling the camera, “We did it! We won! Nobody has ever won so much before!”

In a nod to the MAGA faction’s many, ongoing election fraud claims, Trump again turned to the camera when asked to record an alternate message in case Republicans lose this year and repeated, “We did it! We won!”

The post ‘SNL’ Cold Open: Trump, Rubio and Hegseth Beg Republican Voters for Help Ahead of ‘Bleak’ Midterms appeared first on TheWrap.

The comedian and “Misty Green” filmmaker stopped by the New York Times’ “The Interview” series this weekend and said that while advocating for marginalized communities is great, it needs to come with forgiveness, a huge theme in his new film starring Rosalind Eleazar.

When asked by host David Marchese about the throughline forgiveness has in the film, Rock said that “you don’t really realize if you love somebody until you have to forgive them,” adding that somebody letting you down or betraying you, but still choosing to be around them, is what true love is.

“I have a friend that’s going to be nameless that might have gotten canceled,” Rock said. “Another friend of mine was like, ‘How can you be friends with that person?’ I was like, ‘If you’re only friends with your friends when they’re good, they’re not your friends.’ If you’ve got a bunch of people that are only going to be there when you’re good, you have no friends. That doesn’t mean condoning abusive behavior; you can reprimand your friends. That’s also part of friendship.”

When pressed by Marchese, who said that everyone has to have a line at some point, the comedian held his ground.

“I’m a Christian, and God forgives,” he said. “The problem with quote, unquote, wokeness — and don’t get me wrong, it is great that marginalized people have a voice; it is great to advocate for anybody that feels marginalized — but the problem is we’re in the Old Testament right now, and the Old Testament has no forgiveness. The Old Testament didn’t work, so they had to write a remix called the New Testament.”

Marchese also pressed Rock on the so-called “Woke 1.0” era, referring to the period immediately following George Floyd’s murder in 2020. He asked Rock whether he viewed that period simply as “crazy” or whether there was anything redeeming about it.

Rock said he believed there was plenty worth preserving in the movement’s original impulse, particularly its focus on giving marginalized people a voice. But, he argued, problems arise when those ideas become institutionalized.

“It’s great to help those that need help. We need more of that. The problem is when you institutionalize it,” Rock said.

He then offered a characteristically irreverent analogy to explain what he sees as the danger of turning a movement into an institution. “My half a joke: The Salem witch hunts — I’m sure the first three witches they caught were actually witches,” he said. “But then you open up a witch office, and now you gotta start lying because you got overhead. You gotta justify the witch hunters’ pensions and [expletive].”

Despite his criticism, Rock said he ultimately believes the period had a positive impact, particularly in amplifying voices that might otherwise have gone unheard.

“I’m glad that all of this stuff happened, it needed to happen, and because it happened, maybe I’ve heard some voices that I probably wouldn’t have heard otherwise,” he said.

Rock wrote and directed “Misty Green” which centers on a a fading actress attempting to make a comeback in unforgiving Hollywood.  

You can watch Rock’s full NYT interview in the video above.

“Misty Green” hits select theaters Oct. 9.

The post Chris Rock Says ‘Wokeness’ Has Created a Less Forgiving World: ‘We’re in the Old Testament Right Now’ appeared first on TheWrap.

Lorre accepted the Founders Angel Award at Project Angel Food’s Sept. 26 Angel Awards. He was honored with the charity’s highest honor, which it has bestowed only once before in its 37-year history. While accepting the lauded award, the veteran producer, who helmed hits like “Two and a Half Men” and “Mom,” launched into a series of pointed jokes about Trump and his administration.

“Sure, I’d love to stand here and talk about my deep yearning for a more compassionate government, one that prioritizes the health and welfare of its citizens,” Lorre said, as reported by the Daily Beast. “But the burden of my profession demands that I take this opportunity to say a few words about that bloated orange piece of s–t in the White House.”

He continued: “I’d love to express my gratitude to all the people who’ve devoted their lives to making Project Angel Food an oasis for those in need. That would be my preference. But because I’m a comedy writer, I have no choice but to explain how I wake up every morning to turn on CNN to see if the president of the United States had a heart attack while straining to take a dump.”

He also took a moment to call out the first lady, saying, “I’d love to encourage you to pull out your wallets and contribute to this amazing organization, but my need to cause laughter forces me to question how a country can embrace a smart, educated, warm, funny first lady like Michelle Obama and somehow be OK with [Melania].”

In response, the White House said Lorre was suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome, a pejorative phrase used by the current administration to describe emotional reactions to or opposition to Donald Trump that are classified as irrational.

“Chuck Lorre should immediately seek psychiatric help to treat his severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome that has completely rotted his peanut-sized brain,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told Fox News Digital.

Representatives for the White House and Lorre did not immediately return TheWrap’s request for comment.

The post White House Fires Back at Chuck Lorre After Anti-Trump Gala Speech: ‘Seek Psychiatric Help’ appeared first on TheWrap.

The ad, titled “Just try it, California,” stars two young women, one which seems nervous to try something for the first time. The other woman then tucks her hair behind her ear and tells the other it’s “not that bad.”

“I’ve never done anything like this before. What if my dad finds out?” the other woman with blue hair and a septum nose piercing replies.

“Just try it. Look, give me your hand,” the other says, adding, “Close your eyes, and I’ll do all the work.”

The young woman with the pink hair guides her hand out of frame before revealing a ballot. She helps the her friend fill in a bubble for Steve Hilton.

The Republican candidate was seemingly taking a page out of former Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt’s rulebook, who went viral with his AI ads earlier this year. (Hilton is currently 22 points down in the RealClearPolitics average of polls and is not seen as competitive in his race against Democratic candidate Xavier Becerra.)

This ad, however, was not AI. Hilton claimed it was “produced by a great and talented director.” He did not state the director’s name, but pointed a user in his Twitter replies to his Bring Hollywood Home plan.

The ad quickly attracted attention across the internet.

Pratt replied, calling the ad “brilliant.” Fox News anchor John Roberts said that the ad “boldly go[es] where no political ad has gone before.”

Other users online were not as big fans with one person calling it “one of the creepiest ads ever made.”

“Awful political ad. But an absolutely incredible ad for literally anything else. You should go into marketing,” another user commented on X.

Keep reading for more reactions.

The post Steve Hilton Goes Viral For Lesbian Political Ad, and It’s Apparently Not AI appeared first on TheWrap.

Weeks before Hathaway and Johnson’s latest film “Verity” dropped in theaters, Swift released the music video for her song “Patient Zero” – which was a part of her “Life of a Showgirl: The Encore” release. Johnson starred in the music video and when Hathaway learned about it she wasn’t sure if it was a clever bit of publicity for “Verity” as well.

“Taylor is such a mastermind and obviously a brilliant talent and all those things, but she’s also so good at a surprise that when people were like, ‘Oh my God, is Patient Zero tied to ‘Verity,'” Hathaway said at a SiriusXM Front Row event hosted by Nicole Ryan and Ryan Sampson on SiriusXM Hits 1. “I was like, I’m a producer on the movie, and I was like, ‘Is it?’ And so I wrote Stacey like the day of the premiere, and I was like, ‘Is there something you need to tell me?’ And she’s like, ‘About what?’ I’m like, Patient Zero. And she wrote back, ‘What’s that?’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, you’re good.'”

She added: “It’s just this weird coincidental timing. And that’s how it all worked out. But no, by the way, it’s not even a music video, it’s a short film. And Dakota is so amazing in it, and I love Taylor as a director. It was a beautiful video. And no, just thrilled for her.”

Johnson stars in the “Patient Zero” video as the wife of an abusive husband (played by Colin Farrell). Over the course of the video, she is haunted by images of Swift, her husband’s former partner. Sick for reasons she does not understand and accused of drinking too much, Johnson’s character finds herself caught up in swirl of confusion created by her toxic relationship.

It is only revealed in the music video’s closing moments that Farrell’s character has been poisoning Johnson all along, slowly gaslighting and killing her the same way he did with Swift’s departed, former heiress. The video’s story ties into the origins of “Patient Zero,” which Swift explained was inspired by a friend’s recounting of how an ex-boyfriend’s current girlfriend once reached out to her for advice on her relationship.

Johnson’s connection to Swift has now led many eagle-eyed Swifties who are always on the lookout for the next Easter Egg to wonder if Hathaway is in on it too. While promoting “Verity” earlier this week, the star was spotted wearing an identical necklace to one Swift had in the “Look What You Made Me Do” music video from her Reputation era. It has fans wondering if the Reputation (Taylor’s Version) album might finally be around the corner.

“Verity” is now in theaters.

The post Anne Hathaway Thought Taylor Swift’s ‘Patient Zero’ Music Video Was Tied to ‘Verity’ appeared first on TheWrap.

The Kennedy Center Honors will move to Washington, D.C.’s Capital One Arena this year, marking the first time the annual ceremony will be held outside the Kennedy Center since its launch nearly five decades ago.

The move comes as another longtime Honors tradition is also up in the air. CBS broadcast the ceremony every year from its debut in 1978 through 2025, but its contract with the Kennedy Center expired following last year’s telecast.

A Kennedy Center spokesperson said a broadcast partner for the 2026 ceremony will be announced at a later date.

The 49th annual Kennedy Center Honors will take place Dec. 7 at Capital One Arena. This year’s honorees have not yet been announced.

Last year’s ceremony, hosted by President Donald Trump, drew 3.01 million viewers on CBS, the smallest audience in the Honors’ history. The telecast was also streamed on Paramount+. Honorees included Sylvester Stallone, George Strait, Gloria Gaynor, Michael Crawford and the rock band Kiss.

The venue change comes as the Kennedy Center’s main building remains closed while officials assess safety risks stemming from structural deterioration. Officials temporarily closed the building following a partial ceiling collapse, while its longer-term future remains the subject of a legal battle.

The dispute has centered on plans for a large-scale renovation and Trump’s efforts to add his name to the performing arts institution. A federal judge previously ruled that only Congress could rename the center and ordered Trump’s name removed from its facade and other materials.

The move will also give the Honors a much larger venue. Capital One Arena, home to the NBA’s Washington Wizards and NHL’s Washington Capitals, can accommodate roughly 20,000 people, compared with 2,347 seats at the Kennedy Center Opera House, where the Honors have traditionally been staged.

The Kennedy Center Honors were established in 1978 and recognize artists for lifetime contributions to American culture through the performing arts.

The White House did not immediately return TheWrap’s request for comment.

The post Kennedy Center Honors Moves to Capital One Arena as Historic Arts Center Remains Closed appeared first on TheWrap.

The buzziest move of all may be Disney’s decision to give Netflix a three-month promotional window to stream the first two seasons of Disney+’s “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” in conjunction with the show’s Season 3 premiere on Nov. 20. The fantasy series’ first two seasons will be available to stream on Netflix starting on Oct. 4.

Additionally, all five “Ice Age” films are set to begin streaming on Netflix on Oct. 4 as part of a separate, three-month streaming window leading into the theatrical release of “Ice Age: Boiling Point” on Feb. 5, 2027. Every season of ABC series “Will Trent” and “Shifting Gears” will also arrive on Netflix on Nov. 3 and Dec. 1, respectively. Both shows’ arrivals on Netflix come just a few months ahead of the premieres of their new seasons early next year.

Furthermore, all three seasons of the Justin Hartley-led “Tracker” will now be available to stream on Netflix outside of the U.S. for a multi-year term.

Disney is also bringing a number of non-franchised Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar titles to Netflix starting early next year, including “Soul,” “Elio” and “Raya and the Last Dragon.” Other, legacy shows owned by Disney, such as “Felicity,” “Revenge,” “Army Wives,” “Fresh Off the Boat” and “This Is Us,” are heading to the streamer as well.

Notably, all of the titles listed above will remain available to stream on Disney+ and Hulu, with Netflix serving as an additive, secondary streaming platform for the selected shows and movies. Disney-owned titles that are already streaming on Netflix, like “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Arrested Development,” “Scandal” and “Black-ish,” will also continue to be available on the platform.

The new licensing deal furthers Disney’s ongoing effort to prioritize its companywide, Disney+-first approach of emphasizing the streaming exclusivity of most of its library titles, while still entering into select third-party licensing agreements. In this case, many of the shows and movies being licensed to Netflix have been made available to the streamer in the hopes of growing their audiences ahead of their upcoming seasons and sequels.

The post ‘Percy Jackson’ and More Disney Titles Start Streaming on Netflix in Huge Licensing Deal appeared first on TheWrap.

MTV VMAs Fashion: Where’s the Meat?

Lady Gaga’s meat dress. Lil’ Kim’s matching purple jumpsuit, wig and pasties. Lil Nas X’s black feathered hoop skirt and headdress. The MTV Video Music Awards used to be a reliably outrageous red carpet, with plenty to gawk—and squawk—about.

Not so much this year.

The 2026 VMAs were light on major stars and surprisingly tepid in the style department, with few of fashion’s biggest brands appearing particularly invested—even when it came to dressing their own global ambassadors. There wasn’t much risk-taking, either, or the kind of gloriously bad taste that has historically made the VMAs so much fun.

Lisa of Blackpink, a global brand ambassador for Louis Vuitton, bypassed the house for the red carpet, wearing a corseted red dress by The Attico under a crimson faux-fur coat by Chinese designer Quine Li. Sabrina Carpenter, who has collaborated closely with Dior on everything from her Coachella stage wardrobe to the Met Gala, also went elsewhere, in a vintage blush Dolce & Gabbana gown to collect her Best Collaboration award with Madonna for Bring Your Love.

Even some of the evening’s loveliest looks underscored how far the VMAs had drifted toward conventional awards-show glamour. Raye shimmered in a crystal-encrusted, draped Georges Hobeika couture gown, channeling the retro Hollywood glamour that has become her signature. She looked great. But where was the fashion that made you wonder what on earth you were looking at?

MTV debuted a new award, the Artist Director Honors, with Taylor Swift as its inaugural recipient — a move that gave the superstar a reason to show up. She looked downright demure by VMA standards in a black velvet and crystal-mesh halter gown by Tamara Ralph, with just a hint of seduction in the sheer back.

Teyana Taylor brought a bit more heat in sheer black, feather-trimmed Zuhair Murad couture, while Normani flirted with spectacle in Robert Wun couture, with a liquid-metallic bodice and gloves, an enormous sculptural flower and a pleated black mermaid skirt.

And then there was Sombr, one of the few who actually seemed to understand the assignment. A global Valentino ambassador, he instead dared to bare his chest in a glam-rock, faux-skunk coat and flared deadstock leather pants by homegrown L.A. luxury brand ERL, designed by Venice-based Eli Russell Linnetz, who has become an increasingly potent red-carpet force.

I love that Linnetz tapped fellow Venice creative Tom Binns to collaborate on the jewelry. The crystal-studded “SEX” belt buckle was apparently Sombr’s idea and had a wonderfully sleazy, MTV-era quality to it, hearkening back to Madonna’s infamous early 1990s Sex era, while also bringing to mind the “Boy Toy” belt buckle from her 1984 VMAs Like a Virgin look.

Sombr kept the ERL look for his cameo during Madonna’s show opener, before changing things up for the evening’s George Michael tribute. There, he sang Faith and Father Figure wearing the studded leather motorcycle jacket Michael himself wore on his 1988 Faith tour — a piece of pop history that turned out to be one of the night’s better fashion moments.

Madonna was the undisputed star of the evening, opening the show in Saint Laurent — one of the few mega brands with a significant presence on the red carpet — with a black satin mini trench, corset, bodysuit and thigh-high boots. Her relationship with creative director Anthony Vaccarello goes way back. In 2022, Saint Laurent reissued her 1992 Sex book and staged an exhibition and party around it at Art Basel Miami, and this past June, Madonna and Vaccarello co-hosted Club Confessions/Club Saint Laurent following his Saint Laurent men’s show. Madonna dominated the night with seven wins, including Artist of the Year.

Charli XCX was another of the evening’s Saint Laurent women, wearing Vaccarello’s gothy-looking sheer black tulle bandeau and black velvet skirt on the red carpet before changing into a tiny Dsquared2 LBD, fishnets and platforms to join Madonna onstage.

Despite the lackluster fashion (and largely lackluster show), viewers found reasons to tune in. The VMAs drew 8.43 million viewers across CBS and MTV, up 51% from last year and marking the show’s biggest same-day audience since 2015, as reported by Variety. Viewership actually peaked above 15 million during Madonna’s opening act.

So perhaps luxury fashion should take another look. The VMAs may no longer be the anything-goes style circus of the meat-dress days, but with audiences growing again, there’s an opportunity for designers to help make them provocative — or at least deliciously tacky — again.

Spring 2027: Clothes to Lift the Spirits

With Milan Fashion Week wrapped and Paris in full swing, Spring 2027 fashion is coming into focus with clothes to lift the spirits, including more color, more embellishment and, thankfully, more personality.

Even the practical pieces have punch (and there are plenty of practical pieces), with sporty windbreakers, rugby shirts and bombers turning up alongside bra tops (so many bra tops) and other lingerie touches, fringe, big earrings and an increasingly persuasive argument that the statement skirt is the piece to build a wardrobe around next spring.

At Gucci, Demna continued to refine his vision, abandoning some of the weirdness that’s bogged down his previous collections for something that felt more accessible. He transformed the convention center into a vast Gucci store for his runway to underscore what is perhaps the biggest trend of the season: commercialism, as the luxury industry tries to climb out of its slump.

He sent out a cast of wealthy eccentrics (no, not Tom Brady this time) that ranged from ladies who lunch to private school rebels à la The Shards, with rugby shirts, tartan kilts, chunky bombers and giant, low-slung horse-bit belts combined with sharp tailoring and slinky evening dresses that nodded to the Tom Ford years.

Maria Grazia Chiuri loosened up at Fendi, too, adding a bit of color and a streak of rock ’n’ roll bohemian decadence to her sophomore outing, with leopard prints, lace-edged romper shorts and bralettes, beaded fringe and long black dresses with grommet details.

Milan’s only major creative-director debut was at Moschino, where Sunnei designers Loris Messina and Simone Rizzo took over after Adrian Appiolaza’s departure. The pair staged their first show on the rooftop of a parking garage, sending people dressed in everyday clothes streaming in the opposite direction of the models in a clever bit of fashion theater that suggested Moschino belongs on the street, not just the runway. There was some Franco Moschino-worthy humor in the exaggerated proportions (that padded muscle tee) and arty prints, but also surprisingly real clothes in amazing color combos.

At Bottega Veneta, Louise Trotter moved away from some of the heaviness of her first seasons into soft balloon pants and gossamer shirts, openwork crochet and lace knits, and gorgeous dresses and skirts made from fine strips of fringe, all in a beautiful palette of lilac, butter yellow, electric purple and red. And the more wearable pieces still spoke to the extraordinary handwork the house can do.

Bottega also delivered Milan’s biggest celebrity moment: Jacob Elordi, a brand ambassador, sitting front row to watch his girlfriend Kendall Jenner close the show. Awww!

The final word belonged to Armani, as it always does in Milan. A year after Giorgio Armani’s death, his niece Silvana Armani titled her second Giorgio Armani collection Evolution, bringing slightly stronger shoulders and a hint of sex appeal into the house’s famously relaxed tailoring. There was sporty suiting, including Bermuda shorts, tuxedos and tuxedo dresses, along with fringe and flat shoes, moving the house codes forward without abandoning the man who created them. (Indeed, Armani was immortalized in the portrait print on a black-and-white sequined bomber.)

Then it was on to Paris, where Anthony Vaccarello had his golden moment at Saint Laurent.

For Spring 2027, he staged the kind of cinematic spectacle you might expect from the man who also heads Saint Laurent Productions, with three enormous chandeliers suspended over a glossy black runway, the Eiffel Tower sparkling behind it, Charlotte Gainsbourg singing for a finale and a collection that progressed through shade after shade of gold before fading to black.

The clothes were equally decadent, with gold safari jackets and bombers; coat dresses with power shoulders and jeweled buttons; ethereal black gowns; gilt brocade and lamé; and snake-shaped heels. With speculation swirling that Vaccarello may be nearing the end of his decade-long tenure at Saint Laurent, the whole thing had the look of a spectacular final scene.

Jonathan Anderson went in a far more casual, everyday direction at Dior, toning down some of his more sculptural experiments in favor of lighter, softer chiffon tailoring and floaty skirts, easy knitwear, striped shirting and sporty pieces, like a khaki barn jacket edged in lace. It was a convincing answer to what the archetypal femininity of Dior’s 1947 New Look might mean to women nearly 80 years later — and in a warming world.

At Dries Van Noten, Julian Klausner offered another iteration of the upbeat, slightly retro, eclectic femininity that has been gathering steam. He incorporated vintage movie-poster prints, striped polos, paper-bag-waist skirts and loads of brooches and beads into clothes that felt glamorous without being precious. Great shoes, too — seems like the brand is intent on growing that category.

So far, the throughline from Milan to Paris has been optimism and clothes that make it fun to get dressed. But Paris Fashion Week isn’t over yet, with more of the season’s biggest shows still to come next week.

Horror Gets Its Close-Up at the Academy Museum

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is getting into the spirit of the spooky season with The Horror Show, an immersive crowd-pleaser of an exhibition that explores how things that go bump in the night — and keep us up at night — are portrayed on the silver screen.

The exhibition sets the tone — literally — at the outset with an aural presentation of some of the haunting strains and sound effects that create the mood for horror films. From there, six chambers branch off a dark hallway lined with vintage horror movie posters from Nosferatu to Sinners, each room dedicated to exploring a horror theme through props, costumes, production materials and movie clips, with occasional nods to the historical context and societal anxieties reflected in horror films.

The crypt-like Gothic chamber unpacks the vampire mythos by serving up Gary Oldman’s sinewy Vlad the Impaler armor from Bram Stoker’s Dracula, designed by Eiko Ishioka, and the richly embroidered crushed velvet outfits designed by Sandy Powell for Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise in Interview with the Vampire. Also here is what is perhaps the hero piece of the whole exhibition: the cape Bela Lugosi wore in Universal Pictures’ 1931 Dracula, which the actor kept after production wrapped and continued to wear in public appearances until his 1956 death. It is displayed for the first time after an extensive restoration.

In the psychological chamber, a room as stark as a hospital hallway, the horrors begin with Hermann Warm’s almost Edvard Munch-like concept art for the 1920 German film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, which gave visual form to the disorientation that permeated Germany after World War I. Nearby is a selfie op with Mrs. Bates from Psycho, reflecting the tension in the exhibition between the serious and the silly.

More psychological horrors are illustrated by costumes like Jack Nicholson’s Milena Canonero-designed plaid shirt from The Shining (the red accent color, it turns out, portends bloodshed); Anthony Hopkins’ terrifying Hannibal Lecter look from The Silence of the Lambs, strapped to a hand truck and conceived by the brilliant Colleen Atwood, complete with a taut-skin-like hockey mask by Ed Cubberly; the Nino Cerruti suit Christian Bale wore in American Psycho; and Kathy Bates’ Misery looks by Gloria Gresham. The latter two are made all the more terrifying because of how ordinary they seem and how easily they cloaked the monsters beneath.

The Science Lab is a prop-heavy, costume-light exploration of technology-induced horror, the centerpiece of which is an impressively towering (and drooling) Xenomorph from Alien: Romulus. (There’s also a prop operating table from Young Frankenstein and the iconic lightning-white-streaked wig worn by Elsa Lanchester in the 1935 film Bride of Frankenstein.)

Over in the clapboarded Slasher chamber, an amusing cabinet of weapons and masks ranges from Michael Myers to Ghostface, while Freddy Krueger’s fedora, red-and-black striped sweater and razor hand are on display nearby.

The Religion chamber, like the Gothic one, is heavy on the high-style costumes carrying narratives both pure and possessed, including a Ruth E. Carter-designed dance hall costume worn by Wunmi Mosaku in Sinners, displayed next to the expansive flower dress Florence Pugh wore at the climax of Midsommar, designed by Andrea Flesch.

The room right next door showcases all things Ghost, including the single creepiest set piece of all time on display — the grinning prop toy clown from Carol Anne’s closet in Poltergeist.

An old-school computer console is set up for visitors to explore the genius website created to promote 1999’s The Blair Witch Project, complete with realistic crime photos and police reports. It’s a fun touch, marking the entrance of the horror genre into the Information Age. It’s quite an advance from the marketing tactic featured in Weegee’s famous black-and-white photo of a full movie theater watching House on Haunted Hill in 1959. An innovative promoter in his own time, filmmaker William Castle devised a stunt called “Emergo,” in which a plastic skeleton flew above the audience on a wire during the film’s climax.

“The Horror Show” at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, 6067 Wilshire Blvd., through July 27, 2027.

Rolex Keeps Time At NYFF

Rolex has long been part of Hollywood, both on-screen (Sean Connery’s Submariner in Dr. No and other Bond films, and Paul Newman’s Daytona in the racing film Winning, to name two notable appearances) and off, with its high-profile presence at the Oscars.

The watchmaker has also deepened its relationship with the film community as presenting partner of the 64th New York Film Festival, where this year it is backing everything from the opening-night premiere of Paper Tiger to the Filmmaker Lounge overlooking Lincoln Center.

Among the directors represented at this year’s festival are Martin Scorsese and Jia Zhang-Ke, both Rolex “Testimonees” (the company’s term for its ambassadors). They are part of a roster that also includes James Cameron, Leonardo DiCaprio and Zendaya.

At the festival, Rolex is also presenting the world premiere of a new 4K restoration of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s 1950 Gone to Earth. The project came to life through The Film Foundation, the nonprofit Scorsese founded in 1990 to preserve important films, which Rolex has supported since 2017.

NYFF is just the latest addition to Rolex’s roster of film partnerships. The brand has supported the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 2017, including as a sponsor of the Oscars, where it hosts the Greenroom, and is a founding supporter of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.

The 64th New York Film Festival runs through Oct. 12 with 119 films — 75 features and 44 shorts — from 46 countries.

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