Alex Gallardo from Sony Music Latin accepts the Top Latin Albums Label of the Year Award from Kapo.
Alex Gaskarth, lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for pop-punk band All Time Low, says the group’s new album, Everyone’s Talking, out October 17, was inspired by the 20th anniversary shows they were playing in 2024. “There was such an outpouring of love and support from the fans, and that invigorated us to start writing new material,” he says. “We were impassioned.”
The release of their newest record makes 10 albums in 20 years, roughly an album every two years, an accomplishment many recording artists are unable to achieve.
Formed when Gaskarth and lead guitarist Jack Barakat were in eighth grade in Towson, Maryland, the group took its name from the New Found Glory song, “Head On Collision,” which was, as Gaskarth admits, “the best sounding band name on a list of pretty mediocre potential band names.” As Gaskarth and Barakat both learned guitar and jammed in the comfort of each other’s bedrooms and parents’ basements over the next couple of years, they met drummer Rian Dawson. “At that point, it really started to feel like we had a band, so naturally we needed a bass player.” Eventually, Zack Merrick joined on bass.
All Time Low released their debut EP, The Three Words to Remember in Dealing with the End EP, in 2004, followed by The Party Scene in 2005, the band’s first album.
They were still in high school.
“Between Homecoming and Algebra 2, I guess we fit in some band practice,” Gaskarth says.
Once they graduated, Gaskarth and his bandmates focused their energy full-time on the band, releasing their next album, So Wrong, It’s Right, in 2007, followed by the group’s first tour in 2008.
While So Wrong, It’s Right wasn’t necessarily a commercial success, it produced the fan-favorite song, “Dear Maria, Count Me In.”
It wasn’t until they released their third album, Nothing Personal, in 2009, that the band began to see widespread fame, with the album selling 63,000 copies in its first week and debuting at No. 4 on the Billboard 200.
All Time Low continued churning out records over the years, all with varying degrees of success. 2020’s Wake Up Sunshine, however, marked the release of the album’s fourth single, “Monsters,” featuring singer-songwriter-producer Blackbear, which became the highest-charting song of the band’s career.
Now, with Everyone’s Talking, Gaskarth says that the new album is a nod to the marketing process and “the need to drum up a groundswell to get people paying attention again.”
Two years can be an eternity in the lifespan of a band, invoking a need to stay relevant in whichever way it can. After 20 years, All Time Low has been able to achieve that. But Gaskarth says that staying relevant is only part of being successful; it’s also about “recognizing that as a human being, you’re putting yourself through his public tumble-dryer every time you step into the spotlight. The whole album wrestles with those themes. It’s an exploration of self within the context of being in a band for 20 years.”
Here’s a Day in the Life of All Time Low’s Alex Gaskarth.
Date (when you are writing this) September 23, 2025
Time I woke up 8:00 a.m.
Every day starts with A series of yawns followed by some doom-scrolling, mild existential dread, and then a vast appreciation for another day on this planet.
Breakfast consists of Today it was a crappy coffee from a highway truckstop, an energy bar, and half a chocolate glazed donut. But I swear, usually it’s way more chic, healthy, and mindful.
To get going I always listen to Prince.
I don’t feel dressed without A hoodie and a hat with the brim pulled down for that low-key stealth vibe where it feels like maybe I’m still in the womb.
Before I start working I must Endure.
Currently working on Finding a place to do laundry.
But I’d really love to be Finding a place where someone else will do my laundry.
Book I’m reading Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson.
I don’t know how anyone ever Makes it through a day without at least one little sweet treat.
If I had to play one album on repeat, it would be Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon.
The perfect midday consists of A second (or third) coffee and a really good sandwich.
To help get through the day The sound of a loved one’s voice.
Not a day goes by without speaking to My wife.
My daydreams consist of Ambition, longing, whimsy, faraway places, a really good slice of pizza.
I’ll always fight for Trying to do the right thing.
Currently in love with Small, potted succulents.
Hoping to make time to watch The next sunset.
By my bedside I always have An unopened sparkling water that I forget to drink.
To help get through the night A small amount of THC.When I think about tomorrow I hope for a better future for all the lovely people.
Behind scandal, courtroom drama, and a high-stakes fall from grace, Alex Murdaugh now lives a life few ever imagined. Sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of murdering his wife and son in 2023, he also faces federal counts tied to financial crimes. With the Hulu series Murdaugh: Death in the Family bringing renewed attention to his story, many are asking: where is he now—and what does his life look like behind bars?
Learn more about him, where he is today, and additional details below.
Who Is Alex Murdaugh?
Murdaugh was once a central figure in South Carolina’s legal elite. Born into a powerful dynasty that held sway over the 14th Circuit for generations, he later ran his own law firm and was deeply intertwined with local politics and influence.
But Alex’s life took a darker turn after June 7, 2021, when his wife Maggie and son Paul were found shot to death at their family’s property. Prosecutors accused him of committing the murders to divert attention from his financial misdeeds, alleging he had embezzled millions from clients and misused firm funds.
In March 2023, a jury convicted him of the double homicide, handing down two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. He also admitted to 22 federal financial crimes and received an additional 40 years in federal prison.
Where Is Alex Murdaugh Now?
Following his convictions, Murdaugh is incarcerated in South Carolina, serving his life sentences while also carrying the 40-year federal term, which runs concurrently. (Even if the state murder convictions are overturned on appeal, the federal sentence would likely keep him behind bars.)
Initially placed in a maximum security facility, he was later moved to a protective custody unit for his own safety.
Where Are the Rest of the Murdaughs?
While Alex is imprisoned, his surviving family is spread across different roles and reactions. His son Buster Murdaugh has become one of the more visible figures, publicly expressing support for his father amidst the fallout and legal turmoil. Other family members—such as Alex’s brother Randy and extended cousins—have largely receded from the spotlight.
TV & Docuseries on the Murdaugh Case
The Murdaugh saga has inspired an expanding slate of media portrayals. The most prominent is Hulu’s Murdaugh: Death in the Family, a dramatized limited series that premiered October 15, 2025, reimagining the events through a dramatic lens. Jason Clarke plays Alex, Patricia Arquette plays Maggie, and Brittany Snow portrays journalist Mandy Matney, whose podcast inspired the show.
Before the Hulu series, several documentaries and mini-series explored the case, including Low Country: The Murdaugh Dynasty on Hulu, Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal on Netflix, Murdaugh Murders: Deadly Dynasty and Murdaugh Murders: The Movie.
Free Solo climber Alex Honnold is reaching new heights in an upcoming Netflix special, Skyscraper Live.
In the new 2-hour live special, world-renowned American rock climber Honnold will attempt to become the first person to free solo one of the tallest buildings on the planet, named Taipei 101. The skyscraper, which is the tallest building in Taiwan and the 11th tallest in the world, stands at 1,667 ft tall and includes 101 floors.
“Skyscraper Live will kick off 2026 as our latest global must-watch live event,” said Brandon Riegg, vice president of nonfiction series and sports at Netflix. “Watching Alex Honnold free climb Taipei 101 will be an adrenaline inducing spectacle that you can’t look away from. Everyone will be talking about it as it happens.”
Honnold was previously featured in the Oscar-winning documentary, Free Solo. It followed his historic free solo of El Capitan’s 3,000-foot Freerider route in Yosemite National Park, which means he climbed it without a rope and alone. Directed by Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, the film won the Academy Award for best documentary feature in 2019.
His other accomplishments include the free solo ascents of Zion’s Moonlight Buttress, Yosemite’s Half Dom and the Yosemite “Triple Crown,” which he completed alone and in under 24 hours.
Netflix’s Skyscraper Live is produced by Plimsoll Productions Limited (part of ITV Studios), with Al Berman serving as showrunner and executive producer. Honnold, Grant Mansfield, James Smith, Alan Eyres and Jonathan Retseck are also exec producers. Joe DeMaio will direct the special.
While an exact release date for Skyscraper Live has yet to be announced, the special is expected to premiere in early 2026.
Forget the tree.
That iconic lone tree from the stage directions in Samuel Beckett’s tragicomic masterwork “Waiting for Godot” is offstage in Jamie Lloyd’s re-envisioned revival. The polarizing British director who has placed his conceptual stamp on “A Doll’s House,” “Sunset Boulevard” and “Evita,” again challenges the norms in his latest production, taking on the master of ambiguity, absurdity and minimalism — but with mixed results.
Though Lloyd supplants Beckett’s bleak and barren setting with something brighter, cleaner and cosmic — but minus any “Sunset Boulevard”-style video flourishes this go-round — the play’s existential angst in an irrational world remains as powerful as ever — and perhaps more attractive to new audiences due to the casting.
This New York revival is driven by the star power of Keanu Reeves (of the “The Matrix” and “John Wick” film series), who is making a respectable Broadway bow. Joining him in this earnest project as Beckett’s Sisyphean vagabonds is Reeves’ longtime bud, Alex Winter, his goofball bro from the loopy time-traveling “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” films which began in 1989 (the year of Beckett’s death).
This return match-up (“Together again at last!”) has turned the playwright’s vaudevillian clowns into comics of a cooler sort. If not stoner dudes — they are, after all, both 60ish now — they’re more like go-with-the-flow buds with their own relaxed rhythms, encircling speech patterns and genuine bond. Though the two actors have a kind of slacker ease in the nonsensical volleys, this lower temperature approach too often misses the work’s humor, horror and emotional resonance.
With scraggly hair and beard and a dazed countenance of man waking up from an unspeakable dream, Reeves brings the tender vulnerability to his Estrogen (aka Gogo). Sometimes with his arms tightly folded in full pout or for protection, sometimes in a fearful fetal position as if protecting himself from the unknown, he’s a man-child lost in time, space and memory. But the sense of the poet that Gogo once was is absent here — and Gogo needs to be a soul worth saving.
However, Winter’s unbowed Vladimir (aka Didi) is. He’s clearly the driver here as the duo patiently and impatiently wait for the mysterious Godot to arrive. Didi considers his tasks to be: staying the course, keeping the faith, buoying his buddy, and clinging to hope, despite a hopeless loop of disappointments and deferrals.
Winter’s face has the weathered look of a person whose struggles for survival in a cruel and violent world have taken its toll. In the end his Didi hangs by a thread as he movingly faces the void, realizing that taking it one day at a time is a life sentence he can barely endure and yet he does.
And about that void: Beckett’s country road is replaced here with a giant spiral structure that encompasses the stage, designed by Soutra Gilmour. It’s a stunning and glistening setting — perhaps it’s an ivory pipeline to the universe or maybe the eye of God or whatever one projects. Though shocking at first sight for this play’s familiar landscape, it also feels thematically fitting.
Jon Clark’s no-place-to-hide lighting unnervingly brightens Beckett’s shadowy world but without losing its sense of dread, allowing both light and dark at the end of this infinite tunnel. The actors also make great physical use of the epic curvature, comically sliding, slipping and cradling themselves to sleep though they’re more often than not swallowed up in the setting that severely limits the playing field.
Breaking into the duo’s static world are Brandon J. Dirden as the pompous interloper Pozzo and Michael Patrick Thornton as his almost-silent, strangely masked slave Lucky. Dirden brings many colors to the indulgent bombast of this self-centered sociopath, his fascistic brutality disguised as hollow civility. He’s repellent but Dirden makes it so we can’t take our eyes off him.
But Lloyd’s awkward staging here and questionable affectations (including an audience clap-along) makes Pozzo’s relationship with Lucky unfocused and puzzling. Beckett’s symbols of master and slave — the whip, the rope, the servant weighed down with baggage — are either mimed or cut and in doing so lose its real horror.
Thornton uses a wheelchair, and here his Lucky is guided by his tormentor. But the character’s state of servitude is largely hidden in clumsy blocking. Thornton, however, is magnificent in Lucky’s epic “thinking” tirade, a babbling aria with its own inner logic.
Zaynn Arora as the boy messenger (Eric Williams in alternate performances) who delivers the news of Godot’s postponement is suitably fragile, fearful and haunting.
One might also wonder what Beckett — whose strict oversight of productions was legendary — would make of Reeves and Winter’s air-guitar riff, echoing the duo’s signature stance from their film partnership. (Robin Williams also tossed pop-culture references into a 1988 production in which he was paired with Steve Martin.) Certainly many in the audience love it. Purists not so much — but this production is clearly not meant for them.
Still, as a resigned Didi says, “the essential doesn’t change.” Whether on stages in post-war Europe, a hall in San Quentin, or on a pandemic Zoom, Beckett’s wandering refugees and their desperate need to be seen as they search for meaning, purpose and hope continue to find fresh relevance. In the current dystopia, this evergreen play and provocative production may just be worth the wait.
Tributes have been shared after the death of legendary music video director Diane Martel, who has died.
The iconic director worked alongside some of the biggest names in music, including Mariah Carey, The Killers, Miley Cyrus, Beyoncé, Pharrell, and Justin Timberlake over the years, helping to helm visuals for some of their most successful tracks.
In a statement from her family, it was confirmed that Martel died yesterday (Thursday September 18), aged 63.
“Diane passed away peacefully at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital – surrounded by friends and family – after a long battle with breast cancer,” it read.
“She is survived by her Aunt, Gail Merrifield Papp (wife of Joseph Papp, founder of The Public Theatre), her three beloved, loyal cats (Poki, PopPop, PomPom) and many loving lifetime friends.”
Tributes have been coming in across social media too, with artists she worked alongside and fans sharing posts paying their respects to the late director.
Sharing a post on Instagram Stories, Charli XCX said: “R.I.P Diane. You are one in a million. You taught me so much about art and spontaneity and chaos. And thank you for introducing me to so many friends who I’m now so close to. Thank you for inspiring me. Thank you for everything.”
Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos shared a post with the caption: “It’s too soon for me to properly comprehend this. I’m just numb. She was a great artist and if you’re curious about her work, just google her and you’ll spend hours discovering the incredible work she made.”
“What you won’t learn about is what an astonishing human being she was. A massive support for me in so many ways, as well as being the smartest, wittiest companion. The source of the finest understanding of all art forms from the highest to the lowest,” he added, explaining how their friendship goes back over 20 years. “I’d never met anyone like her before. Fearless and intellectually ravenous, while being rooted to the street. I’m so fortunate that I knew her. Could call her my friend.”
The last music video Martel directed was for Ciara’s song ‘Ecstasy’, and in a new tribute, the singer shared: “You believed in me and I believed in you! You will forever hold a special place in my heart and I am forever grateful for all the magic we were able to make together”.
Find more tributes below.
A masterful storyteller and visual savant, Diane Martel provided the moving pictures that accompanied some of the most important music of the culture and then some. And this doesn’t even scratch the surface.
A whole icon. May she rest peacefully. 🕊️https://t.co/r0JaTNTe8R pic.twitter.com/1eLMazXDMT
— Dee Phunk (@DeePhunk) September 19, 2025
I instantly thought of Ciara when hearing of Diane Martel’s passing. Ecstasy appears to be her last credit. I always think of them as a creative duo, considering how iconic their catalog together is, They raised me, I fear music videos will never be as significant again. 🥺🕊️ pic.twitter.com/O2XHyUITrK
— Storm ⛈⚡️ (@Stormviking010) September 19, 2025
RIP DIANE MARTEL
Definitely in the conversation for one of the best music video directors ever pic.twitter.com/5SPtsCOiHc— ProfessorMike (@TheProfessorMJ) September 19, 2025
sadly Miley Cyrus iconic creative director Diane Martel who produced iconic videos like We can’t stop, malibu, younger now and Bangerz Tour just passed aqua at the age 63. RIP Diane 🖤 pic.twitter.com/B96NUA7MPg
— MileyUpdates (@MileyUpdates) September 19, 2025
damn this is sad, diane martel directed some of the most memorable music videos during an era when music videos were almost as important as the songs themselves—also she directed the keep it thoro video so she’s a legend off that alone.. what a loss
pic.twitter.com/8We01CYn0o https://t.co/bDxImfor5i
— benny gesserit (@ben_is_like) September 18, 2025
Diane Martel raised a generation with her videos. Wow. https://t.co/Tp9jDYeZzb
— ERIC LAMONT (@EricUnedited) September 19, 2025
RIP Diane Martel. 💔
one of the best music video directors of all time. We all grew up on her work. Some of the most iconic videos for three straight decades.
She directed two Justin Timberlake in two iconic videos: Like I Love You and Love Sex Magic with Ciara.🕊️ https://t.co/VjMqIo0RRe pic.twitter.com/SmTkU1KEG0
— Blocky Timberlake (@timberflame) September 19, 2025
rest in peace diane martel, forever iconic 💔 pic.twitter.com/FEhyeocont
— emma ⎕ (@emmanoacf) September 19, 2025
The first music video Martel directed was for hardcore hip-hop group Onyx’s ‘Throw Ya Guns’ back in 1992, and Rolling Stone highlights that she also went on to work with other huge names in the New York rap scene including Method Man, Gang Starr, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, LL Cool J, and Keith Murray.
She also had credits working on film projects and getting involved in dance and choreography, and went on to work closely with Mariah Carey over the years – directing videos for ‘My All’, ‘Dreamlover’ and ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’.
Other huge songs she made music videos for include ‘Like I Love You’ and ‘Love Sex Magic’ by Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera’s ‘Genie in a Bottle’ and ‘What A Girl Wants’, Alicia Keys’ ‘If I Ain’t Got You’, Addison Rae’s ‘Obsessed’, The White Stripes’ ‘Conquest’, The Killers’ ‘Read My Mind’, and Britney Spears’ ‘3’.
She was also behind the two controversial 2013 videos for Robin Thicke (‘Blurred Lines’) and Miley Cyrus’ ‘We Can’t Stop’. For Miley, she also served as the creative director for the divisive performance at the 2013 MTV VMAs, and held that same role for the ‘Bangerz’ tour.
She was nominated for Best Direction at the VMAs in 2005, up for the award with Francis Lawrence for Jennifer Lopez’s song ‘Get Right’.
Martel turned her sights to other projects over the past five years. In 2022, she was named the Harlan J. Strauss Visiting Filmmaker at the University of Oregon and led a series of community events there.
There are only so many ways to hide a body, and there are only so many ways a movie like “Adulthood” turns out. Alex Winter’s amusing but slight film is a wacky romp about intergenerational trauma and cycles of abuse, though that’s pretty obvious from any given promotional image. As crazy as the movie purports to be, there’s never an unexpected moment. Thankfully, this turns out to be less of a problem than it should be.
“Adulthood” follows Noah and Megan Robles, two siblings whose mother has been left unable to speak after a stroke. While looking through the basement of their childhood home, they notice a leak in the water heater and a terrible smell. Their investigation leads them to the rotting corpse of their old neighbor Patty Metzger (a great name for a character whose moniker will hang over the rest of the film), who disappeared years ago. Instead of calling it into the police, they decide, in order to protect their family’s reputation and finances, to dump the body in a quarry. Of course, the pair’s attempts to bury the past only cascade into further collateral damage and ethical compromise.
Over the past 20 years of Black List darlings and Edgar Wright rip-offs, the American film industry has established a new archetype of cinema filled with quippy antiheroes, gory allegories for domestic strife, and character actors rattling off reference humor. The last few years this have seen this subcategory exchange its trendiness for a position as a legitimate niche market with the lower-tier of silly genre programmers. In 2025, a movie like “Adulthood” — i.e., a Whedon-esque morality play where one of the characters wears an Alamo Drafthouse shirt — is no longer cool or remotely notable. It is the standard deviation of every movie to play the Midnight section of a festival. But I like the Midnight section, and I found the movie to be a totally amiable way to spend 97 minutes.
Much of this hinges on a single load-bearing creative decision, one that becomes delightfully obvious only a few scenes in. Unlike similar stories, wherein characters often recoil at the notion of replicating the faults of their parents, the Robles are maniacally insistent that they must, at any cost to their well-being or the lives of others, follow in their parents’ footsteps. It is their duty to protect their mother’s legacy. They barrel recklessly past several oppurtunities to free themselves from the consequences of their own actions out of a stubborn devotion to their own toxicity. This approach is way more fun than the alternative, and gives far more room to explore questions of familial responsibility and the difference between care and self-preservation.
Such thematic complications present themselves, though in a confounding order, with unreliable consistency. Nearly half the film focuses on the extortion effort of the mother’s nurse (Billie Lourd). Her motivations, as someone who resents being dehumanized by those who pay her to do what she believes is a child’s duty of care, are a worthy inclusion, but her scenes feel like a slack waste of time in a story that demands a certain level of propulsion. Anthony Carrigan’s Bodie, the unpredictable cousin brought in by Noah to intimidate her, is similarly leveraged disproportionately. He lays bare the hypocrisy of the siblings’ insistence that they are acting out of some familial obligation and not outright selfishness. But this would perhaps be better highlighted by the character played by Winter himself. As Patty’s vagrant son, he delivers a heartbreaking and immediately commanding performance. Unfortunately, he has a total of about 180 seconds of screentime, the perfect foil to the sibling’s relationship is bizarrely abandoned.
The other performances are uneven, though I’m not sure how much of that is the script and how much is Winter’s direction. On one side is Gad, who fares shockingly well. Noah is a debt-addled, nerdy middle-aged who feels totally emasculated by his inability to get a project off the ground. As someone who has never been swayed by Gad’s particular brand of obnoxiously chipper humor, Noah’s depressive snark finds him in a much more comfortable register. He takes an insufferable caricature and turns it into a convincingly normal guy, even amidst all the hijinx and bloodshed. Scoledeno, however, is ill-served by a script that gives her plenty of detail but no depth. In addition to covering up a murder or six, Megan obsessively monitors her diabetic son’s glucose levels and finds herself stuck at the bad end of a multi-level marketing scheme. Scoledeno is visibly distressed, but Megan’s motivations are frustratingly indecipherible until she finally explains herself in voice-over.
All of this is perhaps explained by the core flaw in “Adulthood”’s construction: every arc is defined by if and when someone chooses to lash out in violence, but said violence is always irrational and inertly dramatized. Carrigan is, as always, a game performer. But Bodie, with his room full of swords and adult braces, is the kind of wacky force that requires a clarity of vision and Winter isn’t up to the task. The ending is not a twist, but it does backfill psychological information about the nature of the sibling dynamic that would have worked infinitely better if Galvn had found a way to seed these tensions sooner, or Winter a way to dredge them up via performance or mise-en-scene. Despite the premise, the movie is without a clear genre. It is not scary, it is not exciting, I do not even know if I would call it a comedy.
Yet I thoroughly enjoyed my time watching “Adulthood.” Whatever you call this type of movie, I find it endearing. I think its snarky faux-nihilism is cute and brings enough energy to the proceedings to paper over its dramatic lurches. I like the eagerness with which every idiosyncratic bit of set design and every minor twist is presented. I like sensing that someone on-screen is about to commit manslaughter and then swear, the way you can tell a rom-com heroine is about to trip by the way she carries a stack of papers.
I like movies like “Adulthood.” There are plenty of better films just like it. But there are plenty of worse ones, too. Plus, this one doesn’t have a single annoying needle drop. That has to count for something!
Grade: C
“Adulthood” premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. It is currently seeking U.S. distribution
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The Selling Sunset star, who welcomed her son Austin at the age of 15, has been candid about her and husband Romain Bonnet‘s fertility journey.
“We don’t know what the outcome is going to be,” she told E! News in September 2024. “We’re just kind of taking it as it as it comes. I’ve been super busy right now with the book and with the season and everything. So, I know nothing’s going to happen if I’m stressed out and if I’m running around.”
And in addition to undergoing a surgery to rectify a septate uterus (when the uterus is divided into two parts by a membrane), Mary said she and Romain aren’t rushing into any decisions—and are happy with their dog.
“We have our fur baby though, Thor. Romaine is obsessed with him,” added the real estate agent. “So if it doesn’t happen, he says he’s OK. He’s got his little fur baby, and he is just beyond obsessed. We’ll be OK. What’s meant to be will be.”
Alex Warren is doing something unordinary for a pop star.
On Sep. 3, organizers of P.E.I’s Sommo Festival shared that the “Ordinary” singer withdrew from the event due to “a recently booked scheduling conflict,” in a now-deleted social post.
“With the festival being next week, as you can imagine, this leaves us in a difficult position,” they wrote. “We are working hard to complete the lineup, and you’ll be the first to know when we do.”
Warren was set to join the East Coast two-day festival from September 13-14, with headliners Hozier and Alanis Morissette, and support from Ducks Ltd., PVRIS, Alice Merton, Chiara Savasta, Michael Marcagi, Hollow Coves and more.
Later that night, the chart-topping star took to TikTok to share his perspective — and set the record straight.
“Four weeks ago, I asked for time off. I’m going through a lot of stuff, I’ve been touring all year, I have rehearsals on my birthday — so I wanted a week off. A week off where I could go see a therapist, spend time with my family and sleep in my own bed, because I haven’t been able to do that,” Warren shared.
Read more here. — Heather Taylor-Singh
Karan Aujla’s ‘P-Pop Culture’ Earns Historic Debut, Enters Billboard Canadian Albums Chart At No. 3
Karan Aujla is making Canadian history.
The Punjabi powerhouse’s new album, P-Pop Culture, debuts at No. 3 on the Billboard Canadian Albums chart, dated September 6.
Related
A bold fusion of Punjabi pop and hip-hop, P-Pop Culture is a tribute to the soil that raised Aujla and a call to the world to embrace the new wave of Punjabi artists. He balances pop melodies drenched in love and nostalgia with impactful hip-hop bars.
In Canada, the record earned 12.4 million streams, marking the highest debut for a Punjabi-language album in Canadian history — a record that surpasses Aujla’s 2023 album, Making Memories.
Aujla announced his new album, P-Pop Culture, in Montreal on July 27, releasing the album’s lead single “Gabhru!” days later. It debuted at No. 46 on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100, continuing his chart hot streak.
Read more on the chart feat here. — HTS
Bruce Allen Hands Presidency of His Talent Firm to Paul Haagenson
Veteran Canadian music executive Paul Haagenson has been appointed president of Bruce Allen Talent, effective Oct. 6.
The move comes as company founder Bruce Allen steps into the role of chairman, continuing his long-standing involvement with the Vancouver-based management firm.
Related
Haagenson previously served as president of Live Nation Canada, where he oversaw some of the country’s biggest tours and live events. Before that, he was vice president and general manager of the Western Division at House of Blues Concerts Canada. His decades of experience in the live music and talent management industries position him to steer Bruce Allen Talent into its next chapter.
Read more here. — Peony Hirwani
[This story contains spoilers from season two of Netflix’s My Life with the Walter Boys.]
Team Alex isn’t ready to give up in season two of Netflix’s My Life with the Walter Boys.
In the 10-episode season that premiered on Aug. 28, Ashby Gentry returns as Alex Walter, who fell in love with Jackie Howard in season one, only to be left heartbroken after she leaves and returns to New York after kissing his brother Cole. The last time Alex interacted with Jackie, he was drunkenly telling her he loved her, so having to reel from that absence impacts Alex both mentally and seemingly physically. The once bookish nerd is now seemingly confident and has caught the attention of ladies at his school.
“When I was 16 and my first relationship ended, there’s almost an over compensation with regards to the freedom that one has,” Gentry tells The Hollywood Reporter. “I think Alex is a suppressor. You see that with the heartbreak with Jackie. ‘I’m fine. It’s fine. We’re good. Let’s just move on. It’s over.’ He’s a pusher. He suppresses his deepest and most potent feelings.”
Despite attempting to make things right with both Alex and Cole as she finds her way once again after returning to Silver Falls, Jackie can’t fight her feelings and her and Alex end up giving things another go — however keeping their romantic reunion secret from everyone. Of their reunion, Gentry admits he wasn’t surprised but also didn’t necessarily agree.
“If this was my friend, I would be like, ‘Bro, what are you doing? What is wrong with you?!,’” he tells THR. “But I was not surprised, because Alex, he’s stubborn and determined. I think he’s going to be dead, buried six feet under before he gives up. I was more surprised she took him back personally.”
As one corner of the show’s love triangle, Gentry admits he initially didn’t understand how people couldn’t be team Alex during season one. “Then I watched the show, and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s how.’ They’re cute together. So I get it,” he says of the chemistry between Nikki Rodriguez’s Jackie and Noah LaLonde’s Cole.
But Team Alex is in full force in season two with Gentry crediting his character for being “the person who’s willing to sacrifice what he has to sacrifice for the people that he cares about.”
“I just wonder if those people deserve him truly,” he says.
Gentry spoke with THR about studying for cowboy camp (while walking through a graveyard), Alex’s other potential suitors and his reaction to that confession in the finale.
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We ended season one with a shocked and heartbroken Alex. Going into season two, what were you hoping to explore with Alex this season?
We don’t really know what’s going to happen until very close to shooting. I received scripts for some of the episodes that we’re filming in a few weeks and so over the hiatus, which was a long hiatus because we finished shooting season one August 2022 (the show didn’t come out until December 2023), we didn’t start shooting again until August 2024. So in between working, there was a two-year period where I had to wonder what was going to happen, much like the audience does.
My mind went in a lot of different directions, because I think what happens is formally traumatic, meaning that it’s a big disruption. She leaves and that’s traumatic, very sudden, and it changes things forever after that point. There are a lot of different ways you could respond to that. I brainstormed about those. It’s tricky to work before you’ve really seen material, because I don’t want to make assumptions about what’s going to happen, and then have to alter those assumptions once I get the script. But of course, I definitely had some ideas.
What were your ideas?
They’re somewhat similar to what happens. When I was 16 and my first relationship ended, there’s almost an over compensation with regards to the freedom that one has. I think that’s hinted at, though not seen explicitly in season two. I think Alex is enjoying his singularity, and figured that was one of them. I had imagined a lot more of the grieving and a lot more of the heartbreak than I think is showed in the show. He is a sensitive guy and there’s a whole plot point in season one about him crying after he found out about his brother and his first girlfriend which is totally reasonable, but we don’t see that in the show. There’s a time gap, and a big period of summer break where he goes to cowboy camp and hits puberty,. So I imagine a lot of the heartbreak took place during that period that we don’t necessarily see, which is nice to have that privately to myself as an actor.
Alex is seemingly camouflaging his heartbreak and giving a 2.0 confident version now. He’s really popular there among the ladies. After learning what was in store for Alex, how he was reacting to everything and where he is now how did you view who this new Alex was?
All three of the characters in season two are figuring out who they are. I think that’s the theme of season two. A season of identity. It’s a season of everybody discovering where they fit, which is what adolescence is; That’s where you learn what you want, what you like to do, who you love, who you want to be with. In psychoanalysis, there’s discussions about authenticity. My understanding of Lacanian psychoanalysis is that even your inauthentic parts are authentic to you. When we see Alex behaving in various ways in season two, even if it’s not, quote, unquote, the real him, the fact that he’s trying it on means it is authentic to him. So we get to see him craft this personality that might not be necessarily organic, but it’s so interesting to watch what kind of inauthenticity he decides to portray.
Before diving into his relationship with Jackie, I did want to touch on Alex and Kylie, because this season they’re seemingly not as close as they once were. Alex also still seems to be oblivious to her feelings towards him. Do you think that Alex truly is truly unaware of her feelings for him? Do you ever see him seeing her as anything more than a friend?
I’ve met a lot of people, and have been close to a lot of people who are like this. Though, I wouldn’t necessarily say I’m like this. I think Alex is a suppressor. You see that with the heartbreak with Jackie, he’s fine. [He’s like] “I’m fine. It’s fine. We’re good. Let’s just move on. It’s over.” He’s a pusher. He suppresses his deepest and most potent feelings. I would be shocked if there wasn’t something suppressed. But do I think he’s consciously aware of any sort of romantic Inkling between him and Kylie? No I don’t.
So he really is just that oblivious?
Yeah! I really do. I wonder about her though. It’s been brought to both of their attention. It’s brought to Alex’s attention by Skylar in season one, episode four, and it’s brought to Kylie’s attention by Cole in season one, episode 10, right? Both of them deny it. Both of them are like, “You’re tripping!” And so I do think it’s suppressed.
We see Alex train for what you called “Cowboy camp.” What was the preparation you had to do for that this season and was it different, in any way, from what you did for the first season?
I learned about cowboy camp in the break before shooting. I just researched as much rodeo as I could. Obviously a lot of the preparation for season two was physical stuff. He’s supposed to look different, so there was all of that. I live in Brooklyn, and there’s a park nearby, but before you get to the park, there’s a graveyard that you got to walk through. I would walk through the graveyard every day, walk to this park and then back to my house and I would listen to podcasts about the history of rodeo and about bronco riding, and how that works. [I’d] just watch a bunch of cowboy videos. And there’s actually a series on Netflix called How to be a Cowboy, which I watched. It’s all it’s kind of special for me. So it was fun!
Learning about cowboys while walking through a cemetery is the best preparation apparently!
Hell, yeah. That’s my style. You got to prepare like Ashby Gentry!
From left: Natalie Sharp and Gentry.
Courtesy of Netflix
Alex seems to be maybe oblivious again and continuing to break hearts after having a connection with his rodeo mentor, but he turns her down after realizing he still has feelings for Jackie. What did you make of Alex and Blake’s dynamic?
I very much feel like Alex is almost a little brother to me, where I’m like, “What are you doing?! Why? Like, dude!” With the Blake stuff, my personal response to that was, “You idiot! You are fumbling this beautiful girl who likes you a lot on speculation that the girl who kissed your brother is gonna want you back.” That being said, though he’s a good gambler, because he was right. But I was still frustrated.
This season, it’s clear Jackie is still dealing with feelings for both Alex and Cole but acting more on her feelings for Alex. What do you think was the point where Alex stopped denying his feelings and wanted to open his heart up again to Jackie?
I have a very confirmed answer to this. Okay, when Alex goes to the arcade to play darts, it’s the same arcade that Alex went to with Jackie in season one. And he sees the racing game there and is reminded of her and the time they spent together, and he can’t get her out of his head, even when he’s kissing Blake. That’s why he fumbles Blake. When he gets back to the barn that night, pre-lightning, I think that’s the moment that he realized that he still loves her. I know this is true, because we filmed that stuff. It just didn’t make the final cut.
Were you surprised Alex and Jackie gave it another go?
Yes! Oh my God. And okay, was I surprised? No, no, I wasn’t. Did I agree? Also, no. If this was my friend, I would be like, “Bro, what are you doing? What is wrong with you?” But I was not surprised, because Alex is like a bull. He’s stubborn and he’s determined. I think he’s going to be dead, buried six feet under before he gives up. I was more surprised she took him back personally.
Why’s that?
I think because I got to witness the way her and Cole interact. I mean that’s clearly strong. It’s so funny. When I was doing season one, I was very much of the school of thought of like, “In what universe could you not be team Alex?” It just didn’t make sense. And then I watched the show, and I was like, “Oh, that’s how.” They’re cute together. So I get it. I was a little surprised she went back to him because I thought maybe she was gonna figure things out with Cole.
Do you think she maybe went back with Alex out of guilt?
I think that totally has something to do with it. I don’t think it’s like a pity relationship entirely. I think she loves Alex. I think she’s figuring out who she is and I think she decides that she does not want to be the person that cheats on her boyfriend with his brother and then leaves him in the dust. And so I think it’s about her own retribution in a way.
Gentry and Nikki Rodriguez in My Life With the Walter Boys season two.
Netflix
When Jackie tells Alex about what happened with Cole, he doesn’t seem surprised and almost seems relieved because his instinct about there being something between them was right. Then even knowing about them it still doesn’t stop him from wanting to pursue things with Jackie again. What did you make of how he reacted to the reveal of what happened with Jackie and Cole? Why was he so forgiving this time?
I think that’s probably one of the most redeeming points in Alex’s arc of the character, because he’s kind of being gaslit the whole first season. He knows there’s something going on and is made to feel crazy and is made to feel clingy and overprotective and neurotic. And then he’s right in the end! Then, not only is he right, he’s lied to about it by his brother and his ex-girlfriend for half of the second season. And then is finally brought to justice, and even says, “At least now I know I wasn’t crazy!” Though the even more mature way of handling the situation is he says, “It doesn’t matter, because I still love you.” I think that even though it frustrates me as an audience member, that’s how people work through this stuff. People make mistakes. “I don’t care, because I still love you, and at the end of the day, I still want to be with you.” That’s what matters to me, which I think is a very redeeming part of his story, even though it is simultaneously so frustrating.
In contrast to last season, Alex and Cole don’t necessarily dislike each other but seem cordial despite there being in the elephant in the room with their feelings towards Jackie. In a love triangle, people can get so caught up in their teams but forget that these two are actually brothers and a relationship can be impacted there. What did you make of their new dynamic this season?
You know I’ve been in this situation a few times in my life, and with the other guy, it’s always like, you don’t necessarily get over it ever, or at least I haven’t. But at the same time, I also don’t hate them forever. In a weird way, it’s almost like a dialectical relationship, where the contradiction is the truth in that in a subconscious way, bond over the thing you have in common, which is the fact that you both love the same person. So I think with Alex and Cole, he gets it. He can’t blame him. He loves her, too. It makes sense. So I think, in a way, that eases the tension. Whereas if he had God forbid done Jackie, wrong in a malicious way, because he hated her, I think it would be much more easy for Alex to write him off as this evil person. They’re brothers, so they have a history there, but I think the brother thing just increases the literal familiarity between them. It’s so much easier to fight with your brother than it is to fight with a friend. It’s easier formally, but it’s harder in the actual content of it.
From left: Gentry as Alex and Noah LaLonde as Cole in My Life with the Walter Boys.
David Brown/Netflix
It’s going to make for some awkward family gatherings that’s for sure.
No kidding! I’m like how are they going to have dinner after this? You know how much I think about that? They have these big blowout fights, then it’s like “Bro I can’t go into the bathroom right now cause Cole’s in there right now.” Like that’s awkward. They got to drive together in the same car! It’s so weird!
Well speaking of awkward, this season ends on a cliffhanger once again with Alex hearing Jackie confess her love to Cole. Where do you see them go from there?
I’m gonna guess to the hospital! That’s the bigger problem that we also see at the end of season. But where do I see them go from there? I don’t know. I mean, I do know, right? I’m not gonna say (Laughs.) I just feel like, geez that’s gotta suck as an audience member. Like round three, dude. It’s round three. I barely give a second chance. This guy needs to do some serious soul searching to rationalize his life existence. Because I’d be like, I should just like, move. I should just run away from home, because the humiliation that I would feel in that situation is absolutely crazy! I’m really interested this year in exploring where Alex goes for himself. And this is just Ashby. That’s what I care about. I care much less about where him, Jackie and Cole go because I think the interesting thing is, how do you as a person swallow a pill like that for the third time in your life in a period of two years?
I think anytime there’s a show or film where there’s a major love triangle, fans are quick to pick teams of who they prefer be together. What’s your pitch for why Alex is the one for Jackie?
My pitch for why Alex is the one for Jackie is because can you imagine not giving up after that? I can’t! Well, I did have to. That’s my job (Laughter.) I think Alex is just willing to do the hard thing for her. And that’s rare, and you’ll find in life that people that are willing to do hard and inconvenient things are the people that are the most valuable. Unfortunately in contemporary life, most people are often few and far between, even amongst your close family. And that’s my critique of Cole. If Cole really loved Alex, he would get over it. He would squash it. He would do the right thing, and he would not infatuate with his brother’s girlfriend (laughs) which to say out loud is actually an insane thing. Alex is the person who’s willing to sacrifice what he has to sacrifice for the people that he cares about. I just wonder if those people deserve him truly. That’s my oddest honest reaction to the show so far.
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My Life with the Walter Boys is now streaming on Netflix. Read THR’s interviews with Nikki Rodriguez, Noah LaLonde and showrunner Melanie Halsall.