After “The Diplomat” established the complex marriage between Keri Russell’s Kate and Rufus Sewell’s Hal, Season 2 digs into how the couple’s dynamic shifts after tragedy strikes.

“What we’re looking at is what happens after a trauma, what happens after a tragedy … the daily irritations and power struggles that happen that can be blown away in this kind of incident,” creator Debora Cahn told TheWrap. “It blows out all of the smoke of the mundane of a relationship, and suddenly, you’re dealing with the real heart of it.”

While Kate and Hal were inching towards a divorce by the onset of the Season 1 finale, the finale delivered an explosion in its final moments that left Hal’s fate hanging in the balance. Season 2 picks up just afterwards, with Kate dropping everything to tend to Hal, whose critical condition luckily stabilizes soon after Kate’s arrival.

“Something so monumental where something happens to a partner, it just refocuses everything,” Russell told TheWrap. “There’s a lot in our show that the up for debate about their competitiveness as a couple, or their push and pull and their hate and love and all of those things, but I think beyond all of that, they are each other’s protector. When this happens, you just drop everything, and everything else feels ridiculous and frivolous.”

While Russell admits Kate was “certainly entertaining other options” in Season 1, particularly via her alliance with British Foreign Secretary Austin Dennison (David Gyasi), she points to the direction give by director Alex Grave, which saw Kate not even make eye contact with Dennison after learning about Hal’s accident. “She’s like, ‘That is done — that is so over,'” Russell said.

With Kate still reeling from the discovery that British Prime Minister Nicol Trowbridge (Rory Kinnear) was the one behind the terrorist attack that sent her to London, Russell adds that her discovery “only brings her closer to Hal,” saying “she trusts him from before all of this — she knows she can trust him, regardless of any sh–ty things she’s ever done to him. She knows that she can count on him.”

“The energy between them and the way they are is kind of unstoppable,” Sewell added.

With Kate and Hal standing as a (mostly) united front to take on the unfolding global crisis before them, Cahn admitted that she didn’t realize the marriage would become as central to the Netflix series as it has.

“It turns out that it really became a portrait of a marriage, and it was nice to know that that was happening,” Cahn said, “to be able to just dig deeper into that, and to know that we had Keri and Rufus, who worked together in this incredible way and have such a great time together, and that those Kate and house scenes are so engaging that you can write the 15-page scene and do it on TV — like, that’s not normal.”

While Hal made it out of the car bomb explosion, Season 1’s premiere reveals that Stuart’s aide, Ronnie Buckhurst (Jess Chanliau), wasn’t as lucky. His death, which is treated with notable reverence for a minor character, sends Kate into a spiral as she considers whether she’s more like her husband than she cares to admit

“I liked the idea … that these two people who came together in a kind of a shared passion about their work, were being torn apart by … a different ethical line in the sand and different ideas about what was an acceptable amount of risk in trying to do this very important job,” Cahn explained. “The idea was to sort of re-create the wound that initially dealt such a such a terrible blow to their marriage, and that was [that] in the past, Hal did things that put people who work for them at risk, and those people died — or at least that’s how Kate sees it.”

Cahn aimed to put Kate in Hal’s shoes as she experienced the diplomatic community coming together to mourn Ronnie in a way that Cahn likens to the loss of a child in a relationship.

“Would her judgment of [Hal] change, and would she have more perspective on choices that he made and and what would that do to their relationship?” Cahn asked. “What would it do to the people around her — the people who looked up to her in the way that she initially looked up to Hal — there was a sort of a hero worship thing, and there’s a real loss of faith that happens when somebody who you care about that much and you respect that much does something that you feel kind of blithely endangers somebody else’s life.”

Season 2 also introduces Allison Janney as Vice President Grace Penn, a character that Cahn describes as an “unexplained, unexploded grenade that we had in our pockets, sort of waiting to deploy” after first mentioning the character — and her husband’s scandal — in Season 1. Janney’s appearance also reunites the “The West Wing” star with Cahn, who served as a producer on “The West Wing.”

“I don’t dream big enough sometimes, and one of our great Netflix execs was like, ‘Well, have you considered bringing Allison in?’ And I just never believed that it would work — I didn’t think she would say ‘yes,’ and it was just a mind-blower when I called her up, and she did,” Cahn said. “We hadn’t seen each other in a few years, and it was kind of terrifying writing for her again. I was very intimidated by it, and it just turned out to be as magical as we hoped.”

“I was such an enormous fan of ‘The West Wing’ and everything I’ve ever seen her do, so to have her to the news that she was coming on board was such a competence in the show,” Sewell said, applauding her for being fun to work with and prepared on set. “It was just a treat.”

As Grace operates in a prim and pinned up way that is foreign to Kate, Russell noted that Grace’s challenge to Kate ends up bringing Kate and Hal closer. “If anyone is pushing or pulling either of us, it brings us closer, so I think a foil is good because it just makes them tighter,” Russell said. “Although so much of the end of last season was about kind of this disintegration, this season, I think, there’s a lot of things that have brought them together.”

As Kate and Grace present foils of alternative ways to engage with femininity on the political stage, their conversations parallel discussions regarding the upcoming presidential election — though the show was written well before VP Kamala Harris stepped up to become the 2024 presidential nominee.

“We like to be in conversation with what’s happening in the world, but we’re not trying to be a dramatization of real life events or political figures — and then s–t got real … the show was suddenly skating dangerously close to what was going on in the world,” Cahn said. “And on a certain level, it’s exciting. But I also don’t want to present the impression that we’re making a comment on this particular presidential race, although we’re talking about a presidential race. And boy, a lot of the characteristics are similar.”

“The Diplomat” Season 2 is now streaming on Netflix.

The post ‘The Diplomat’s’ Creator, Keri Russell and Rufus Sewell Dig Into Season 2’s Post-Trauma Dynamic: ‘They Are Each Other’s Protector’ appeared first on TheWrap.

The NBA all-star posted a video to his Instagram page that featured Tony Hinchcliffe’s racist jokes spliced together with racist statements made by former President Donald Trump.

“What are we even talking about here? When I think about my kids and my family and how they will grow up, the choice is clear to me,” James captioned the Thursday post. “VOTE KAMALA HARRIS!!!”

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A post shared by (@kingjames)

At the end of the video, a message read, “Hate takes us back.”

The Los Angeles Lakers forward previously endorsed President Joe Biden and Harris in the 2020 election, as well as Hillary Clinton in 2016. James has also criticized Trump for “racist comments” before, saying in a 2018 interview that the former president “really don’t give a f–k about the people.”

“The guy in control has given people and racism, and negative racism, an opportunity to be out and outspoken without fear,” he said. “And that’s the fearful thing for us, because it’s with you, and it’s around every day, but he’s allowed people to come out and just feel confident about doing negative things.” 

James even formed the group More Than a Vote in 2020 in response to the racial turmoil and reckoning following the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. More Than A Vote worked with a nonpartisan voting rights group to fight voter suppression.

The post LeBron James Endorses Kamala Harris for President: ‘The Choice Is Clear’ appeared first on TheWrap.

The former president filed the lawsuit obtained by TheWrap on Thursday, after days of outcry about the news organization doctoring his political opponent’s interview. It states that the “60 Minutes” interview was a form of “news distortion” used to “tip the scales in the favor of the Democratic Party.”

“CBS’ partisan and unlawful acts of election and voter interference through malicious, deceptive, and substantial news distortion calculated to confuse, deceive, and mislead the public.” 

Trump and his lawyers are seeking $10 billion in damages and a jury trial for CBS News’ supposed deceptive editing of the interview. The suit states these reflect the “ongoing false, misleading, and deceptive acts; the attorneys’ fees and costs associated with this action; and such other relief as the court deems just and proper.”

CBS declined to release the full transcription of the interview to Trump and his lawyers, as well as citing the First Amendment in defense of their reporting. However, they did release a statement explaining how their interviews are edited for air and how this particular answer was edited.

“Same question. Same answer. But a different portion of the response,” the “60 Minutes” statement reads. “When we edit any interview, whether a politician, an athlete, or movie star, we strive to be clear, accurate and on point. The portion of her answer on 60 Minutes was more succinct, which allows time for other subjects in a wide ranging 21-minute-long segment.”

The lawsuit was filed in the notably conservative Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Texas, despite neither party being based in Texas.

The former president has hounded CBS about the “60 Minutes” interview for most of the month of October.

“A giant Fake News Scam by CBS & 60 Minutes,” Trump said on his Truth Social account. “Her REAL ANSWER WAS CRAZY, OR DUMB, so they actually REPLACED it with another answer in order to save her or, at least, make her look better.”

He continued, “A FAKE NEWS SCAM, which is totally illegal. TAKE AWAY THE CBS LICENSE. Election Interference. She is a Moron, and the Fake News Media wants to hide that fact. An UNPRECEDENTED SCANDAL!!! The Dems got them to do this and should be forced to concede the Election? WOW!”

His tirade didn’t begin and end on his social media accounts. The Republican nominee brought it up again during his chat with Joe Rogan on “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast.

“Kamala goes on ’60 Minutes,’ gave an answer that a child wouldn’t give, it was so bad, and ’60 Minutes’ took the answer out and put another answer in,” Trump said.

“They edited it, deceptively,” Rogan reflected back.

“Which didn’t make sense, either, but it was better,” Trump continued. “They took — well, it wasn’t editing, it was fraud. This was not editing.”

A moment later, Trump said, “I think it’s the biggest scandal in broadcast history, what happened to CBS.”

The post Trump Sues CBS News for $10 Billion, Claims ‘Deceptive Doctoring’ of Harris’ ’60 Minutes’ Interview appeared first on TheWrap.

The footage kicks off with Scarlett Johansson, who played Black Widow in the MCU, jumping on a video call and thanking her fellow Avengers — including Robert Downey Jr., in a rare political endorsement — to discuss what they can do to encourage people to vote this week.

Watch the video below:

The video also included Mark Ruffalo, Danai Gurira, Chris Evans, Don Cheadle, and Paul Bettany, and together, they brainstorm how they can help Harris. Among their ideas? Give her a catchphrase.

Naturally, they start running down the list of their own characters’ catchphrases, including “I can do this all day” and “Boom! You lookin’ for this?” (a niche joke for those who were into “Avengers: Age of Ultron).

“Don’t sit this one out,” Ruffalo wrote in a follow-up post. “It’s the one where we will lose big: Project 2025, women’s reproductive rights, climate change, LGBTQIA+ rights, public education, student debt relief, Affordable Care Act, Social Security, and as of today, life saving vaccines. This s–t is real and it’s going to come for you. Take 3 friends and know, no matter what you are a hero. Always give it all.”

It’s the latest high profile endorsement for the Democratic candidate. Other recent heavy hitters to come out for her include Arnold Schwarzenegger, Leonardo DiCaprio and Sarah Jessica Parker, among others.

The post Marvel’s Avengers – Including Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson and Chris Evans –Assemble to Endorse Kamala Harris | Video appeared first on TheWrap.

The “Insomnio” artist shared an Instagram video on Wednesday announcing his change of heart, just one month after publicly voicing his support of Trump.

“The reason I supported Donald Trump is because I believed it was best for the United States economy, where a lot of Latinos live … a lot of immigrants that are suffering over the state of the economy,” Jam said, translated from Spanish using Google Translate. “With him being a businessman, I felt it was the right move.”

He went on to say that he never expected a comedian to then trash Puerto Rico weeks later, adding, “That’s why I’m renouncing my support for Donald Trump and stepping away from political conversation. Puerto Rico deserves respect.”

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Jam was born in Massachusetts and moved to Puerto Rico with his family at age 10. On Sept. 13, the recording artist endorsed Trump at a campaign rally in Las Vegas.

Over the weekend, Hinchcliffe made multiple racist jokes against numerous minority groups while speaking in support of the Republican presidential nominee at another campaign stop.

“There’s a lot going on. Like, I don’t know if you guys know this, but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. Yeah, I think it’s called Puerto Rico,” Hinchcliffe said at Madison Square Garden on Sunday. Trump subsequently distanced himself from the comedian.

The 2024 presidential election is now just six days away.

The post Singer Nicky Jam Retracts Trump Endorsement After Tony Hinchcliffe’s Puerto Rico Joke | Video appeared first on TheWrap.

“I never voted until I was 70, but now I regret that, and I regret that and I tell everybody on the stage for the last two years, I regret that,” the now 76-year-old rocker told Mika Brzezinski during an appearance on MSNBC. “And I don’t have very many regrets.”

The singer-songwriter, who joined the segment to discuss her new feminist-forward track “The Lighthouse,” said she holds herself accountable for not exercising her constitutional right, highlighting the myriad of excuses some people make.

“There’s so many reasons; you could say, ‘Well, I didn’t have time’…. In the long run, you didn’t have an hour? You didn’t have an hour of your time that you could have gone and voted?” Nicks explained.

“If you’re going to vote in an election, let it be this one,” Mika Brzezinski said to Nicks.

“Let it be this one,” Nicks agreed.

When asked what others with large platforms can do to amplify the importance of voting, Nicks said use the craft to spread the word.

“Really, if you think about it, no matter who wins — God help us — no matter who wins, it’s not over, right? I mean, the government, whatever, we have to figure out a way to bring back Roe v. Wade. We all had to pick causes. This was the cause I chose. So you know what, at the end of the ’50s and ’60s and going into the ’70s, everybody was writing protest songs: Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Stephen Stills, it was like lots and lots and lots,” Nicks shared.

She continued: “So I would say to all of my musical poets that write songs, write songs about what’s happening like I did. I was terrified to put this song out, and then I thought to myself, ‘You know what, at 76 years old, really? I put the song out and people are listening to it.”

Nicks released “The Lighthouse,” which she penned after Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, on Sept. 27. The song is Nick’s first single in years.

The post Stevie Nicks Says She Didn’t Vote Until She Was 70: ‘I Regret That’ | Video appeared first on TheWrap.

On Tuesday night, Harris spoke at the Ellipse — the same spot where, on Jan. 6, 2021, Donald Trump encouraged his supporters to march on the Capitol to try and block the certification of the election that he fairly lost.

During her speech, Harris called on voters to reject Trump once again and promised to be a president for all Americans, even those who don’t vote for her. And it was that message of unity and promise of working across the aisle that stood out for Farah Griffin.

“These remarks hit me last night, I gotta say,” she said during the first segment of the day. “I found myself getting a little bit emotional watching them, because the last time we saw a major national figure speak from the Ellipse, outside of the White House, it was Donald Trump on January 6.”

The host was able to recall the day perfectly clearly, remembering that she was with her in-laws, having already resigned from her job within the Trump administration. Farah Griffin shared she was particularly horrified by Trump calling out his VP Mike Pence at the time.

“I just had this pit in my stomach, thinking ‘You just put him in so much danger. There is a mob there of people who are ready to go march up because you told them to,'” she said. “So this imagery of standing and reclaiming that space — also, showing a woman in front of the White House, looking presidential, I think was incredibly powerful … the message is what resonated with me.”

Farah Griffin noted that, at this point, Trump is doing nothing to appeal to voters who might’ve supported Nikki Haley (primarily women), like herself, and added that all he’s doing is “spewing lies” and “teeing up another January 6.”

“And I hope folks remember that,” she warned.

“The View” airs weekdays at 11 a.m. ET on ABC.

The post ‘The View’: Alyssa Farah Griffin, Longtime Republican, Admits She Got ‘Emotional’ Watching Harris’ Closing Message appeared first on TheWrap.

You can read Harris’ full comment below, which she made at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland:

“First of all, he clarified his comments. But let me be clear, I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for,” Harris said. “You heard my speech last night and continuously through my career, I believe that the work I do is about representing all the people, whether they support me or not.”

She continued: “And as president, I’ll be a president for all Americans, whether you vote for me or not. That is my responsibility and that’s the kind of work that I’ve done my entire career, and I take it very seriously.”

And here’s the video of it, from Harris’ “Kamala HQ” X account:

Harris’ statement comes after the president stumbled into controversy Wednesday night while addressing comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s joke about Puerto Rico at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally last weekend.

The “only garbage I see floating out there” is “his supporters,” Biden said, stumbling over his words before referring to “his demonization of Latinos.”

Here’s the joke Hinchcliffe made: “I don’t know if you guys know this, but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. Yeah, I think it’s called Puerto Rico.”

Hinchcliffe also joked about Latinos making babies and deploying a pun connecting that to illegal immigration, made a watermelon joke directed at a Black attendee, and made jokes deploying certain stereotypes about Jewish people.

Here’s President Biden’s full comment, via Axios:

“And just the other day, a speaker at his rally called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.” Well, let me tell you something. I don’t — I — I don’t know the Puerto Rican that — that I know — or a Puerto Rico where I’m fre- — in my home state of Delaware, they’re good, decent, honorable people. The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters — his — his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American. It’s totally contrary to everything we’ve done, everything we’ve been.”

The Trump campaign, Axios reporter Alex Thompson noted, used the comment immediately, sending out an email saying: “You are not garbage! I love you! you are the best our nation has to offer.”

On Tuesday night, The White House tried to walk back the president’s comment, saying he meant “supporter’s” as in Hinchcliffe, rather than “supporters.” (The possessive apostrophe, which was included in the official White House transcript, implies that Biden was referring to Hinchcliffe’s joke, not all Trump supporters.)

“The President referred to the hateful rhetoric at the Madison Square Garden rally as ‘garbage,'” White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates said in a statement to CBS News.

The post Kamala Harris: ‘Strongly Disagree’ With ‘Any Criticism’ Based on Who Someone Votes For appeared first on TheWrap.

The action star and former California governor wrote in a post on X: “I want to move forward as a country, and even though I have plenty of disagreements with their platform, I think the only way to do that is with Harris and [running mate Tim] Walz.”

Schwarzenegger, who said Americans should be understandably “pissed” with the state of politics in 2024, spent much of his post talking about why he doesn’t want to see another Trump term.

“A candidate who won’t respect your vote unless it is for him, a candidate who will send his followers to storm the Capitol while he watches with a Diet Coke, a candidate who has shown no ability to work to pass any policy besides a tax cut that helped his donors and other rich people like me but helped no one else, a candidate who thinks Americans who disagree with him are the bigger enemies than China, Russia or North Korea — that won’t solve our problems,” he wrote.

The actor continued, “It will just be four more years of bulls–t with no results that makes us angrier and angrier, more divided and more hateful.”

Schwarzenegger, of course, starred in a number of major action flicks during the 1980s and ’90s, including “Predator,” “Total Recall” and the first two “Terminator” movies. He then went into politics, serving as California’s Republican governor from 2003 to 2011.

Wednesday’s endorsement is a change of pace for Schwarzenegger, who did not endorse Joe Biden or Trump in 2020. And four years before that, in 2016, Schwarzenegger backed Ohio Gov. John Kasich for the Republican nomination.

In his X post, Schwarzenegger noted, “I don’t like either party right now,” but added that he was still opting to cast his vote for Harris-Walz.

“I will always be an American before I am a Republican,” he said.

The post Arnold Schwarzenegger Endorses Kamala Harris for President appeared first on TheWrap.

“America was born when we wrested freedom from a petty tyrant,” Harris said as her speech came to a close, in a not-so-subtle reference to Trump. “Across the generations, Americans have preserved that freedom, expanded it, and in so doing, proved to the world that a government of, by, and for the people is strong and can endure.”

She brought those closing words back around to Trump, referencing those who came before, adding, “They did not struggle, sacrifice and lay down their lives only to see us cede our fundamental freedoms. They didn’t do that only to see us submit to the will of another petty tyrant. These United States of America, we are not a vessel for the schemes of wannabe dictators.”

Harris delivered the speech surrounded by a massive crowd and large banners reading “FREEDOM,” with freedom a central theme throughout the speech before she closed with the Beyoncé song of that name that’s become a theme for her on the campaign trail playing once again as she exited.

Among numerous other arguments against her Republican rival, the former prosecutor pointed in her speech to the difference in how the parties approach immigration, just days after Trump and numerous others made anti-immigrant comments at his Madison Square Garden rally that drew widespread condemnation — including calls for UTA to dump comedian Tony Hinchcliffe after comments he made about Puerto Rico, Latinos more broadly and other minorities.

“We know who Donald Trump is,” Harris said as she made her case. “He is the person who stood at this very spot, nearly four years ago, and sent an armed mob to the United States Capitol to overturn the will of the people in a free and fair election. An election that he knew he lost. Americans died as a result of that attack.”

She went on to list more of the case that those opposing the Republican candidate have made against him throughout this presidential election cycle. That includes the idea that Trump is prioritizing his own interests ahead of those of the American people, as well as criticizing Trump having an enemy list and continuing to stoke fears of “the enemy within,” which Trump has said includes Democrats such as Rep. Adam Schiff.

“It doesn’t have to be this way,” Harris said. She called for unity, telling the crowd that it’s time to “stop pointing fingers” and to instead link arms.

“It is time for a new generation of leadership in America,” Harris said, in a line that seemed a subtle reference to her own replacement of Joe Biden at the top of the ticket and the campaign instead turning around the anti-age arguments Republicans had championed to use against their own 78-year-old candidate.

“I recognize this has not been a typical campaign. Even though I’ve had the honor of serving as your vice president for the last four years, I know that many of you are still getting to know who I am,” Harris said, before going on to lay out her own bio and her background working outside of Washington. That includes championing her work as a California prosecutor and fighting banks, predators and criminal cartels.

As she drew a contrast to Trump, she further pointed to the differences between 2020 and now. While the priority at the time was to get out of the depths of the COVID pandemic, Harris said that the priority now is to reduce costs, including underlining her plan to impose a federal ban on price gouging on groceries. She specifically went after Trump’s promises to impose tariffs and to cut taxes for the wealthy.

Earlier, Harris opened her speech by making a straight appeal to the crowd and those watching around the country. “So listen: One week from today, you will have the chance to make a decision that directly impacts your life, the life of your family, and the future of this country we love,” Harris said. “And it will probably be the most important vote you ever cast.”

“It is a choice about whether we have a country rooted in freedom for every American, or ruled by chaos and division,” she argued. “Many of you watching have probably already cast your ballots, but I know many others are still considering who to vote for, or whether you’ll vote at all.”

The event opened with a performance of the National Anthem, but with no introductory speaker for Harris — she stepped out on stage immediately following the performance to cheers from a raucous crowd.

While Harris spoke from Washington, D.C., Trump sought to pull attention by delivering his own speech at a swing state rally scheduled for a half hour after Harris’ speech was scheduled to start.

Watch the full video of Kamala Harris’ closing argument speech here:

The post Kamala Harris Calls for America to Reject Donald Trump on the Site Where He Stoked Jan. 6 Insurrection, Calls Him a ‘Petty Tyrant’ | Video appeared first on TheWrap.