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.

This week, the company behind Trump’s meme coin ($TRUMP) announced a contest where top holders will be afforded a dinner at the Trump National Golf Club outside Washington featuring three unidentified “legends.” The coin’s top 29 investors will also be granted a VIP reception with the president. While Trump does not own the firm that runs the meme coin, the “Morning Joe” hosts noted Friday that he has made $635 million from the licensing of his name.

“[This is] corruption, and it’s all over the place,” host Joe Scarborough said. “When a family’s already raked in $2 billion, $3 billion, it’s hard to say this is the worst example, a most flagrant example of corruption, but it’s certainly up there. The president announcing this dinner for people that want to pay their way in.”

“This is a worthless meme coin, so all you’re doing is buying access to the President of the United States and doing it out in the open,” co-host Willie Geist noted, echoing Scarborough’s sentiments. “In a time, again, where people can’t afford to buy gas or groceries or pay their rent or pay for their health care.”

You can watch the full “Morning Joe” segment yourself in the video below.

The “Morning Joe” crew went on to call out multiple members of the Trump staff, including White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino, who shared AI images of themselves dousing each other in champagne and partying after Trump’s state dinner with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the White House last week.

“This is Marie Antoinette. This is, ‘Let them eat cake,'” panelist Richard Haass argued. “This is an out-of-control bunch, and that’s what strikes me about it. It’s the brazenness of this. It’s the nakedness of this. They’re clearly living in a little bubble of their fellow partygoers and rich people at Mar-a-Lago. This is frat boy behavior, and these are people who are entrusted with the most powerful office in the world.”

“Rent was already terrible. Gas prices high. You look at diesel, it’s just out of control. Republicans have slashed health care so they can fund tax cuts for the very richest Americans, and you see this Marie Antoinette stuff,” Scarborough remarked, observing, “There’s just a huge disconnect for a man who was supposed to be a ‘populist president.’ This is the least populist president in our lifetime.”

The post ‘Morning Joe’ Calls Out Trump’s Meme Coin Dinner Contest as Pure ‘Corruption’ appeared first on TheWrap.

Speaking at a Pentagon event Wednesday, Hegseth declared that the Department of War is “no longer the Woke Department or the Weak Department.” His “simple translation” of that was a mandate: “No fatties, no trannies, no beardos, no weirdos, no wimps, no radicals.”

For his part, Klepper wasted little time mocking Hegseth’s remarks.

“Wow. Worst Dr. Seuss Book ever,” the “Daily Show” host joked, adding, “This kind of rhetoric is unacceptable from our Defense Secretary. Every American, no matter who they are or what they look like, should have the chance to fight a Middle Eastern country for no clear reason. That’s the American Way!”

As part of his Wednesday speech, Hegseth launched Project Meridian, a new initiative led by “America’s best minds” and designed to “study the future of warfare.” At first, Klepper expressed some optimism about the idea, noting, “That’s certainly not the worst idea he’s ever had. I mean, for one thing, it’s the first idea that doesn’t have slurs in it, so we’re already ahead of the curve.”

The “Daily Show” comedian’s optimism evaporated once he found out that the “best minds” in charge of the initiative are going to be Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Anduril co-founder Palmer Luckey and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.

“Newt Gingrich!?! Your list of America’s Top Minds includes Newt Gingrich!?!” Klepper asked in astonishment, later telling “Daily Show” viewers, “Here’s how bad things have gotten. I’m looking at these three and I’m thinking, ‘Thank God Elon Musk is there to be the adult in the room.'”

Klepper was subsequently joined by “Daily Show” correspondent and occasional guest host Josh Johnson, who was a lot more excited about Hegseth’s plan than his colleague. “Project Meridian is gonna win the wars of the future! Wars we’re not even in yet, wars that don’t make sense,” Johnson declared.

In response, Klepper asked why Hegseth is focusing on future wars at a time when many perceive America to be losing its current war against Iran.

“He can’t win the Iran War, Jordan. He doesn’t know what he’s doing!” Johnson responded. “The Ayatollah’s bombing our bases and doing the cha-cha slide on the ruins. We just gotta reset and focus on the next war. No one’s gonna touch us in 2130 when we got Mecha Newt Gingrich walking on the battlefield.”

The post ‘The Daily Show’ Mocks Pete Hegseth’s ‘No Beardos, No Weirdos’ Military Mandate: ‘Worst Dr. Seuss Book Ever’ appeared first on TheWrap.

During a Thursday appearance on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast, the actor, who leads Netflix’s “East of Eden” adaptation, opened up about how he handled fame after the series exploded in 2012.

Abbott confessed it was a bit disorienting being on a show that became a pop culture phenomenon. Per Abbott, he didn’t necessarily feel the impact during the first season, as he was juggling both “Girls” and a Broadway play at the time.

“Looking back on it, it was amazing because … you know, then I really wanted to work,” he said. “Now as I get older, I’m like, ‘I don’t want to work anymore.'”

He added: “To shoot that during the day and then to go do this, I was doing this play, ‘House of Blue Leaves’ at the time. … So, for me the experience of it lives in … that sort of memory reflecting on it. It’s so that was cool. Like, you know, I was like really hustling. I loved it.”

As Abbott went on, he noted that, while not a “huge shift,” he did start to find that some people treated him differently amid the success of “Girls.”

Abbott then recalled that he made an effort to go about his life at the time, and even notably took on odd jobs to see if he wanted to leave the acting life behind.

“I was doing weird things at that time,” he shared. “Like, I worked at a friend’s Italian Ice thing in Rockaway … That was maybe during the second season.”

“Why? Did you have to for money?” a surprised Josh Horowitz asked.

While Abbott noted he wasn’t making “that much money” on “Girls,” he explained that he had taken on the job while contemplating whether he wanted to be an actor anymore.

“I’ve had many periods during my career where I sort of felt like I wanted to quit acting,” he said. “You know, it was probably – I was trying to get in touch with like, whatever working roots or manhood roots. Not that working an Italian ice shop is like particularly a manly job.”

Abbott noted that during this same time, he worked as a set carpenter on other movies.

“I think maybe that was like, an early identity crisis of trying to like figure out, you know, am I just an actor,” he said. “Do I want to only rely on it? … I was probably acting out. Like, getting noticed for a big show like this made me sort of act out in certain ways.”

On how the people in his orbit handle this time, Abbott clarified that media coverage of his “Girls” exit was “more dramatic than it actually [was].”

“I’ll say, at least, on my end, I was always nervous to sign on to something for multiple seasons,” he noted. “‘Cause, whatever, my own fear of commitment generally. So, you know, I was a guest star for the first two seasons. And, you know, they wanted me to sign on for the third season [as well as] to sign on for like a six year or whatever. And that just sort of scared me just because, you know, I liked working on it, but I get bored easily.”

Abbott recalled that he felt like he wanted the freedom to “to do something else.” At this comment, Horowitz poked fun at Abbott for “signing on for 10 X-Men movies.”

Abbott, who has been cast as Professor Charles Xavier in the MCU’s “X-Men” reboot, countered that it wasn’t “that many” movies, adding that he was looking forward to the “stability” these days.

Abbott, who played Allison Williams’ character’s college sweetheart Charlie on two seasons of “Girls,” exited the show in 2013, with creator and co-star Dunham later commenting that the show didn’t rely “on guys.”

Despite reports of “creative differences,” Abbott later returned to “Girls” for a Season 5 episode, titled “The Panic in Central Park,” which is often referred to as one of the best in the series.

The post Christopher Abbott Explains Why He Wanted to Quit Acting While Filming ‘Girls’ Season 2 appeared first on TheWrap.

James Spader’s Ultron is all over the Disney+ series‘ latest teaser, alternately tormenting and working with his AI disciple (or son, if you’d prefer), Vision (Paul Bettany), while occupying space in his mind “rent free.” Their pairing is mirrored in the “VisionQuest” trailer by that of Vision’s estranged relationship with his son, Tommy Maximoff (Ruaridh Mollica).

“I had a family. A mother and a father,” Mollica’s Tommy tells police officers early in the Disney+ series’ newest teaser, adding, “I have these memories. Of someone I’m not.” The latter line seems to refer to the events of “Agatha All Along,” in which Tommy’s brother Billy (Joe Locke) transferred his soul into the body of a recently drowned boy named Thomas Shepherd.

Billy is, notably, not mentioned or alluded to in the latest trailer, but his actions nonetheless seem to have cast ripples all across the new Disney+ series. If Bettany’s Vision gets his way, a family reunion may well be on the horizon, too.

You can check out the “VisionQuest” trailer yourself below.

In addition to exploring the Maximoff family’s unconventional lineage and Vision’s own relationship with his “impossibly cruel and callus” creator, “VisionQuest” looks to be returning to the surreal, mind-bending visual palette that partly defined 2021’s “WandaVision.” That should come as welcome news to fans of the latter series, especially as Marvel continues to position “VisionQuest” as the final installment in its “WandaVision” trilogy (with “Agatha All Along” serving as its middle chapter).

The newest “VisionQuest” trailer also suggests that Spader’s Ultron will be vying for his own freedom throughout the Disney+ series. At one point in the teaser, he tells Bettany’s Vision to “free” him in order to save Tommy and later remarks that he will “finish” what he started “all those years ago.” There are other, brief shots throughout the trailer of Bettany’s Vision clashing with not just Spader’s Ultron but other variants of the maniacal robot as well.

It seems, in other words, like Bettany’s Avenger will have more than just his own memories to contend with when “VisionQuest” arrives later this month.

“VisionQuest” premieres Wednesday, Oct. 14 on Disney+.

The post ‘VisionQuest’ Trailer Lets Ultron Loose Again in Marvel’s New Disney+ Series appeared first on TheWrap.

Crystal titled the show “860,” which was the street address of the house that he and his family lived in for 46 years before it was destroyed last year in California’s devastating Palisades Fire. In the aftermath of his home’s destruction, Crystal said he began to impulsively film and document every moment on his phone, starting with shots of first responders’ planes flying overhead to drop water on the fires.

“I started filming the planes coming over and all that stuff, and I never stopped filming. Whenever there was another event happening, I would just capture everything,” Crystal said, adding, “I started, in my mind, writing a narrative about everything that was happening. I didn’t know what form it was going to take. It might have been a documentary. It might have just been for us, you know? It kept the pain away from me.”

“Over time, I started writing stories that went along with the videos that I was taking,” Crystal continued. “It started to be not only very dramatic, but also really funny because most of it takes place inside the house.”

You can watch Crystal’s full “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” interview yourself below.

Crystal used a photo he had taken years ago with a 360-degree camera of his old office to create the set of “860,” which he says is a recreation of the office as it was captured in that years-old image. Kimmel, for his part, remarked that walking onto that set for the first time must have been “so strange” for Crystal.

“Every moment that I’m in that room, I’m there again, but yet it’s make-believe. So it’s great and it’s sad at the same time,” Crystal responded, adding of the one-man show, “I have to say, it’s really funny, wrapped around our escape and our coming together at this point in our lives.”

“It’s also very inspirational, I think, because it’s about starting over again. We’re not kids. At this age, to believe that we have a new chance, a new beginning, and that’s for all the people, the 7,000 homes that were lost in the fires,” Crystal noted. “We all have this common experience of: One second’s great, the next minute, ‘What do I do with my life?'”

“I am so proud of the show,” he concluded. “And I’m so grateful that I get a chance to do it and explain to people what this loss has meant not only to me, but to all of these other people who’ve gone through the same thing.”

The post Billy Crystal Explains How the Palisades Fire Inspired His One-Man Show: ‘I’m So Grateful’ appeared first on TheWrap.

The “Digger” star is set to appear on Jennifer Hudson’s talk show on Wednesday. And, ahead of the episode’s release, the program released footage of Cruise participating in the popular spirit tunnel.

In the Instagram video, a hallway packed with “Jennifer Hudson Show” staffers can be seen cheering on Cruise as he made his way down the hallway. After smiling and throwing on a pair of shades, Cruise brought back the moves he made famous in the 1983 crime comedy, “Risky Business.” You know the scene, where a 20-year-old Cruise slides across the floor in only his underwear and a shirt while lip-syncing to Bob Seger’s “Old Time Rock & Roll.”

It seems as though “The Jennifer Hudson Show” purposefully paid homage to this movie moment, as the staffers tweaked the lyrics to celebrate Cruise’s appearance on the talk show.

On Instagram, the talk show teased, “The internet is not ready for @tomcruise!!!”

Fans of “The Jennifer Hudson Show” were certainly delighted by Cruise’s participation in the spirit tunnel, with many remarking on the number of people that turned up for the hallway chant.

“The only other time the tunnel was full that I can recall was when Michelle Obama came,” one fan commented below the post. Another chimed in with, “I have never seen so many people in this hallway.” A third remarked, “Nobody missed work today.”

Additionally, several fans applauded the talk show for nabbing such a high-profile guest. For instance, one commenter noted, “Tom Cruise doing Jennifer Hudson is a big deal. This elevates her show to an Nth degree in the grand scheme of things.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Jennifer Hudson Show (@jenniferhudsonshow)

Watch the viral moment for yourself above.

New episodes of “The Jennifer Hudson Show” air weekdays on local syndication networks.

The post Tom Cruise Dusts Off ‘Risky Business’ Dance Moves for Packed ‘Jennifer Hudson Show’ Spirit Tunnel appeared first on TheWrap.

So Warner Bros. steered into the skid, releasing an ad for the climate satire Tuesday morning that shares social media reactions from early audiences — good and bad.

“Decide for yourself,” Warner Bros. official account implored on X.

The ad features several sets of pull quotes from users on X, flipped across the horizontal axis and repeatedly switching places. Each pair features one quote that is positive (“Masterpiece,” “Brilliant,” “Excellent,” “Magnificent”), written in white, and one that is negative (“Unpleasant,” “Baffling,” “Very Goofy,” “Insufferable”), written in orange. The negative quote always starts on top.

“Same film, different truth,” the ad later reads. You can watch the full “Digger” promo below.

“Digger” has long been a subject of curiosity for film fans, as it marks Tom Cruise’s return to non-action acting after the movie star committed to years of (often very celebrated) blockbusters like “Top Gun: Maverick” and the “Mission: Impossible” franchise. Oscars fanatics have noted with interest that, despite being nominated for acting three times and receiving an honorary Academy Award in 2025, Cruise has never won a competitive statue at the ceremony.

And Cruise certainly didn’t return to the awards circuit with a safe project. The climate satire penned by Iñárritu, Alexander Dinelaris, Nicolás Giacobone and Sabina Berman takes some big swings, both in its humor and its execution. It’s a dramedy bursting with ideas (and a pretty big reveal that’s been kept entirely out of marketing).

As the “Digger” promo says, you can decide for yourself how well those swings work.

The post Tom Cruise’s ‘Digger’ Embraces Divisive Reactions in New Ad: ‘Decide for Yourself’ appeared first on TheWrap.

Stewart kicked things off this week with a recap of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Washington, D.C. last week. The “Daily Show” host rolled a clip of Trump bragging about how impressed Xi was by the White House’s new granite helipad, which Stewart found particularly amusing.

“I’m sure you’re proud of your new circular granite helicopter parking spot,” Stewart said, teeing up a photo of the Great Wall of China and adding, “You know, China did used to work in rock about 3,000 years ago? So, again, I’m pretty sure Xi Jinping is not like, ‘This used to be grass!?! And now it’s rock!?!'”

Stewart went on to note that China reportedly sent over 1,000 drone and missile parts to Iran between January and June of this year. Taking that into account, the “Daily Show” host turned his attention to the Republican Party.

“I seem to remember the Republican Party used to frown on the idea of selling weapons to Communist enemies who are supplying said weapons to other enemies we are currently at war with,” Stewart explained, asking, “Does anybody on that side have an opinion on this summit?”

His question was answered by clips of several Republicans doing nothing more than mildly stating their displeasure with Xi’s visit to Washington. You can watch the full “Daily Show” segment yourself in the video below.

Stewart subsequently slammed mainstream news outlets for trying to use the Iran War and certain Republicans’ disapproval of Xi’s state visit to convince their viewers that there is legitimate division within the Republican Party.

“It is not the first time the media has tried to make a meal of Republicans’ dissatisfaction with Donald Trump,” Stewart observed. “Why in God’s name would we continue to fall for this? Why are we constantly believing that there are cracks in the MAGA fortress? We do, because that’s what we are told.”

“The media’s been doing this to us forever,” he continued, noting, “It’s not the end of the marriage between Trump and the Republican Party. It’s the beginning of the Republican Party’s current BDSM understanding of Master and Gimp.”

The “Daily Show” host later called for an end to all narratives about fissures within the MAGA movement.

“Let’s stop pretending that the overwhelming majority of Republican politicians will ever stand up or break from Donald Trump,” Stewart urged. “They’re in the f—king car, and the news media would be doing everyone a favor if you didn’t try and play up every empty gesture of independence from Republican lawmakers. It’s cruel. You’re getting our hopes up.”

The post Jon Stewart Urges Media to Stop Telling Voters Republicans Are Turning on Trump: ‘They’re in the F—king Car’ appeared first on TheWrap.