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      Rupert Grint of ‘Harry Potter’ Gets His Own Glasses

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      The former child actor, who stars in the creepy drama “Servant,” shops at Moscot.Rupert Grint covered his left eye with his hand and attempted to read the top few lines. “E, D, F, C, E, F,” he said slowly.“Close!” said Marilyn Blumengold, a sales associate at Moscot, the eyewear shop on the Lower East Side.This was on a recent snowy afternoon. Mr. Grint, currently shooting the fourth season of the Apple TV+ horror drama “Servant,” had driven in for the weekend from his temporary home in Philadelphia to take in the sights and maybe also have his eyes checked. He had noticed a blur in the right one, he said.But Moscot, which has been in business for more than 100 years, didn’t have an optometrist on-site on Sundays, so Mr. Grint, 33, improvised his own test, standing about 20 feet away from an eye chart at the back of the store.“Almost 20/20,” Ms. Blumengold said encouragingly.Satisfied for the moment, Mr. Grint turned his attention to picking an eyeglass frame, moving through the store shyly, unassumingly, never asking for help, but also never declining it.“I’m a very private person, an introvert,” he said. He slouched through the store in a black Issey Miyake suit that a stylist had picked out for the outing. “Strange pajamas,” he called them. “Surprisingly, I think they look good.” His red hair flopped over the top of some frames.Mr. Grint seemed overwhelmed. “There’s just so much choice,” he said, as he surveyed the rows of display cases. He said it twice. “It’s quite ‘Harry Potter,’” he added without any prompting. “Like choosing a wand.”Mr. Grint stars in the “Servant,” alongside Lauren Ambrose, left, and Toby Kebbell. The show is in its third season.Apple TV+Mr. Grint should know. He starred as Ron Weasley in all eight “Harry Potter” films. (Ron’s wand? Willow. With a core of unicorn hair.) Ms. Blumengold may or may not have known that — at one point she steered him toward a pair of round black glasses, a $300 model called the Zolman, which looked very Harry-esque.“No,” Mr. Grint said politely.When the “Harry Potter” films ended, Mr. Grint was worried that he may not make it as an adult actor. He knew how to play Ron, Harry’s brave, anxious sidekick. He didn’t know if he could play anyone else. “I definitely did think, ‘Is it too late to pick something else?’” he said.He bought a pink-and-white ice cream van, which he drove back to his family home just north of London on his last day of shooting. He thought briefly that he could make a go of that.But after taking a year off, he tried acting again. He had been sent a lot of “Potter” adjacent material — more sidekicks — but he held on for edgier, more serious, more adult work. He took a part in a Jez Butterworth play, enjoying the discipline of theater, and starred in the Crackle crime dramedy “Snatch.”His most significant post-“Potter” role has been in M. Night Shyamalan’s “Servant,” a creepy drama on Apple TV+ about a Philadelphia couple who hire a nanny to care for a baby that is actually a therapy doll. (The real baby had died in an accident.) Mr. Grint plays Julian, the baby’s supercilious uncle. “It’s quite a difficult subject, especially if you’ve got a baby,” he said.Halfway through the series, in the spring of 2020, his partner, the actress Georgia Groome, gave birth to their daughter, Wednesday G. Grint. “Having a child midway through definitely made me understand what a loss that would be,” he said.Wednesday had made him into a bit of a hypochondriac, he added. (Working on a show in which terrible things happen to bodies in nearly every episode — self-harm, self-flagellation, being buried alive — probably hasn’t helped.)“That’s why I wanted to have an eye test,” he said. “I’m slowly becoming more aware that there’s lots of moving parts in the body.”This season’s finale airs on March 25, but Mr. Grint has already begun filming the show’s fourth and final season. And, no, he has no idea what the twist will be. “It’s quite a thrill to work that way.” (It must be. He has signed on for Mr. Shyamalan’s next film, “Knock at the Cabin.”)Ms. Blumengold started him off with a classic Moscot model, the Lemtosh, a brown acetate oval frame with a slight 1950s vibe. Many of the frames have Yiddish names, though “Lemtosh” just sounds like one. Mr. Grint looked confused as he squinted at himself in the mirror. “It changes your appearance,” he said. “It changes your personality.” Into what, he wasn’t sure. But he felt that he could already see a bit better.“Very nice,” Ms. Blumengold said. “Very handsome.”“I do struggle with making decisions,” Mr. Grint said, as he tried on a pair of sunglasses.Mark Sommerfeld for The New York TimesThen he tried on a dozen more acetate frames, toggling between rounder models including the Genug (Yiddish for “enough”) and Frankie, and rectangular ones like Kitzel (“tickle”) and Shindig, a retro unisex model. Most cost around $300.“I do struggle with making decisions,” he said. “It’s quite a responsibility, choosing.”After 40 minutes, he settled on the Yukel (“buffoon”) a clubmaster style with a thick tortoiseshell browline and a thinner gunmetal bottom.Ms. Blumengold created a customer profile and added it to his file, in case he does end up needing eyeglasses. He could always call in his eye test results and have the glasses made.But Mr. Grint didn’t want to leave empty-handed, so he set his sights on the sunglasses. After flirting with the Boychik (a term of endearment for a little boy), he turned back to the Lemtosh, this one in brown acetate frames and dark brown lens. After all, Mr. Grint is now a man.As he waited for Ms. Blumengold to box the glasses up, he popped outside for a quick vape hit. When he returned, she handed him a chamois cloth to clean them with. “This is your last Yiddish word for the day,” she said. “‘Shmatte,’ a rag.” More

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      Late Night Casts Doubt on the Russian-Ukrainian Peace Talks

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      Trevor Noah warned viewers not to get their hopes up: “Not only did Russia not agree to end the war; it wouldn’t even admit that it started a war.”Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous night’s highlights that lets you sleep — and lets us get paid to watch comedy. Here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now.Give Peace a Fighting ChanceRussia and Ukraine held their highest-level peace talks on Thursday since the war began.“But please do not get your hopes up,” Trevor Noah said. “Not only did Russia not agree to end the war; it wouldn’t even admit that it started a war.”“They met in Turkey. Isn’t it just nice to see Russia going somewhere where they’re actually invited?” — JAMES CORDEN“Yeah, Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, was asked if they planned to invade any other countries, and his answer was, ‘We are not planning to attack other countries, and we did not attack Ukraine,’ which is obviously a lie, and also not reassuring for the rest of Europe.” — TREVOR NOAH“And, by the way, if Lavrov is denying that Russia is attacking Ukraine, then what’s he attending peace talks for? What, he wants Ukraine to stop blowing up Russian missiles with their maternity wards?” — TREVOR NOAH“I can’t even imagine how strange these meetings must be. It’d be like trying to have a conversation with someone who’s actively setting your house on fire.” — JAMES CORDEN“Do they get there and there’s small talk before they get into it: ‘Ah, yeah, that Russell Wilson trade is crazy. Anyway, we would love it if we could, you know, pump the brakes on the whole invasion thing.’” — JAMES CORDENThe Punchiest Punchlines (Parachuting Spiders Edition)“Apparently, there’s some spider invasion coming to the East Coast in the spring. Oh yeah, and scientists say they’re that the size of a child’s hand, and they can parachute from the sky. I love how scientists were like, ‘How should we describe the size?’ and they’re like, ‘Oh, I settled on a child’s hand.”’ — JIMMY FALLON“You know, sometimes I don’t understand nature. Why did it feel the need to create something like this, huh? Spiders that have parachutes and fly around? You know, with some things, you get why they exist, like how plants put oxygen into the atmosphere, and how birds evolve into chickens so we could make delicious sandwiches. But giant spiders? Was Mother Nature like, ‘People’s nightmares have become too boring; let’s spice things up’?” — TREVOR NOAH“You can’t even kill that thing with a regular shoe. Did you see the size? You probably need like a Shaq-sized shoe.” — TREVOR NOAH“And, by the way, if you think a giant spider is bad, wait until we see the giant pig the giant spider is gonna become best friends with.” — TREVOR NOAHThe Bits Worth WatchingDenzel Washington sat down with the Bodega Boys on “Desus & Mero.”Also, Check This OutFrom left, Georgina Campbell, Graham Dickson, Tom Stourton, Antonia Clarke and Joshua McGuire in “All My Friends Hate Me.”Super Ltd Things turn nasty when a peculiar stranger infiltrates a reunion of college pals in the new horror-comedy “All My Friends Hate Me.” More

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      Emilio Delgado, Luis on ‘Sesame Street’ for Four Decades, Dies at 81

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      The actor was a fixture on the groundbreaking educational program. His character’s wedding to Maria on the show in 1988 captivated children and their parents.Emilio Delgado, the actor who for more than four decades played Luis the handyman on the beloved children’s television show “Sesame Street,” died on Thursday at his home in Manhattan. He was 81.The cause was multiple myeloma, which Mr. Delgado had been battling since December 2020, his wife, Carole Delgado, said.Over a span of 44 years on “Sesame Street,” Mr. Delgado’s character was the owner of The Fix-It Shop, where he repaired any objects that needed fixing, like picture frames or giant toasters. Luis was joined in the shop by Maria, played by Sonia Manzano. After an on-screen courtship, the characters married in a widely viewed episode of the program in 1988.The marriage of Maria and Luis was cause for celebration among the children who were learning numbers and letters — and about worldly concepts like death and diversity — from “Sesame Street.” Parents dressed their children in their fancy clothes for viewing parties. Mothers cried as the ceremony unfolded.The union, which followed five months of hugging, serenading and pizza-sharing, was also a way to teach young children about love. The two characters were friends and partners at the shop for 10 years, but their feelings started to change when they cared for a sick kitten.“Since kids see love in terms of physical things like kissing, hugging, giving flowers, we showed Maria and Luis doing a lot of that,” Ms. Manzano, who also wrote for the show, told The New York Times in 1988.“We wanted to show a couple who are nice to each other and have fun together,” she said.Mr. Delgado had a long road to the show that would define his career. After “beating doors in Hollywood” for nine years, he got a call one day to audition for the show because it wanted a more diverse cast, Mr. Delgado said in a 2011 interview for the public television show “Up Close with Patsy Smullin.” He joined the cast in 1971, two years after the program premiered.“I was so excited, but as an actor I knew it was a job,” he said. “Maybe it would last a year, maybe two years. Maybe not even that long. But it was great. I had a job on television, on a major television show.”The program allowed Mr. Delgado to show off his singing in addition to acting. In the 2011 interview, Mr. Delgado said that music was his life. He would later perform with the band Pink Martini at venues like the Hollywood Bowl and Carnegie Hall.His love for music developed as a child in Mexico. “I just remember going to sleep to the sound of mariachis,” he said.Emilio Delgado was born on May 8, 1940, in Calexico, a California border town, to Emilio Delgado and Carmen Rodriguez Delgado. He had family he would live with across the border in Mexicali, Carole Delgado said.“He really lived biculturally,” she said, noting that he lived with grandparents and extended family in Mexico. “Because he was an American citizen, he would walk to Calexico every day for school. It wasn’t the border politics of today.”As a teenager, he moved to Glendale, Calif., where he explored his passion for music and theater. Mr. Delgado served six years in the California National Guard in the 1960s before attending California Institute of the Arts, where he was a student in the institution’s first theater class in 1970.When Mr. Delgado wasn’t performing on “Sesame Street,” two “Sesame Street” feature films and many live appearances, he acted in numerous popular shows, including “Hawaii Five-O,” “Falcon Crest,” “House of Cards,” “The Michael J. Fox Show” and “Lou Grant.”In 2018, Mr. Delgado began starring in “Quixote Nuevo,” Octavio Solis’s reimagining of “Don Quixote,” performing at the California Shakespeare Theater, Boston’s Hartford Stage and Alley Theatre in Houston, his family said.In addition to his wife, Mr. Delgado is survived by a daughter, Lauren Delgado; a son, Aram Delgado; and four siblings: Cesar Delgado, Edward Delgado, Martha Ledesma and Norma Vizcaino.Former Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York City declared Oct. 15, 2019, “Emilio Delgado Day” at a celebration to honor Hispanic heritage.“At a time when, if you saw diversity on television, it often was with stereotypes, and not the good kind of stereotypes,” Mr. de Blasio said, “Emilio was one of the people who broke the mold, created a positive role model, for everyone, but particularly for children who didn’t get to see or hear people who looked like them and spoke like them.”Christine Chung More

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      Samuel L. Jackson and Walter Mosley Team Up for a Sci-Fi Fable

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      In a joint interview, the actor and writer discuss “The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey,” their “fairy tale” about an old man negotiating dementia and family drama with the help of a wonder drug.Samuel L. Jackson made his name in the movies, Walter Mosley in literature. But when it was time for these two arts legends to collaborate, they knew television was the only medium that would work.“The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey,” a new limited series starring Jackson and written by Mosley, based on his 2010 novel, tells the story of an elderly Atlanta man with dementia and a family that wants his savings. Just when it looks like all Ptolemy has left is to count his remaining days, two people alter the course of his life. One is Robyn (Dominique Fishback), a teenage family friend who decides Ptolemy is worth taking care of. The other is a neurologist (Walton Goggins) working on a new drug that will bring back Ptolemy’s cognizance — but only for a short time, after which he’ll be worse off than ever (shades of the Daniel Keyes novel “Flowers for Algernon” and its film adaptation, “Charly”).In the series, Jackson’s title character reclaims his life with the help of a young caretaker played by Dominique Fishback.Hopper Stone/Apple TV+In his newfound lucidity, Ptolemy comes to terms with events and people from his past, including the one true love of his life, a beauty named Sensia (Cynthia Kaye McWilliams), and Coydog (Damon Gupton), a childhood mentor who left behind an unusual inheritance. As these figures come and go from his mind, Ptolemy also takes it upon himself to solve the murder of a beloved nephew (Omar Benson Miller), a task appropriate to Mosley’s bread-and-butter turf of crime fiction.Jackson and Mosley were also executive producers on the series, which premieres Friday on Apple TV+. The project was personal for both of them: Each has had loved ones who suffered from dementia. During a freewheeling video interview — Jackson was in London (where he’s filming the Marvel mini-series “Secret Invasion”), Mosley in Los Angeles — they discussed the fairy tale quality of “Ptolemy,” why television was the best option for the project, and how the story jumped across the country from Los Angeles to Atlanta, among other subjects. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.“It’s a fairy tale,” Jackson said of his new series. “In reality, there is no cure for Alzheimer’s or dementia, but we get one, however momentarily.”Erik Carter for The New York TimesWho is Ptolemy Grey?WALTER MOSLEY He’s all of us everywhere. This is a destination that either we reach ourselves in our own experience, or with people that we know and love and live with, as far as aging, dementia and death. These things impact everybody’s lives. It’s a great thing to have Sam taking it on and bringing it to a neighborhood that other people don’t seem to think about very much.SAMUEL L. JACKSON As based in reality as we want it to be, he’s actually at the center of a fable. He’s this mythical character that Walter created who has a real-life problem at the beginning, but Walter allows us to circle back and see a life well lived. It’s a fairy tale. In reality, there is no cure for Alzheimer’s or dementia, but we get one, however momentarily, that allows him to be clear about everything that’s happened in his life, in a flash.How does the series address the experience of dementia?MOSLEY A lot of people will see somebody who’s experiencing dementia or Alzheimer’s, and they think, ‘They’re crazy.’ But in reality, there’s something really going on in there, no matter how far gone they are. We allow an audience to identify not only with the character that Sam’s playing, but with our own lives. That was what the book meant to me, to be able to do that.JACKSON Those of us who have had to deal with that know that when those people are sitting there, they may not answer your questions or be present for what you want them to be present for, because they’re busy inhabiting something else that gives them solace in the lost space that they’re in, or that we think they’re in. But they may not be lost at all. They just don’t bother with what you are trying to put on.I talked to my mom when she had dementia and she’d be like, “You’re disturbing me. Stop asking me things that I’m supposed to know the answer to, or you think that I know the answer to, or that I don’t want to be engaged in right now.” When she wanted to engage, she engaged. So this story touched me in a real place.“This is a destination that either we reach ourselves in our own experience, or with people that we know and love and live with, as far as aging, dementia and death,” Mosley said.Erik Carter for The New York TimesAnd through the story, you get to invent a cure, albeit a temporary one.MOSLEY That’s the great thing about imaginative creativity. You look at Jules Verne: He’s the guy who invented the [electric] submarine, who invented the rocket to the moon. He invented all of this stuff in his imagination, and of course, it’s stuff we wanted. I was reading the newspaper yesterday, and they said umbilical cord stem cells have cured a woman of AIDS. This one woman is cured, and they did it from umbilical cord stem cells. If you put the possibility out there, lots of people are going to be thinking about it.Walter, you’ve worked in television quite a bit by now, including as an executive producer on the crime drama “Snowfall.” Sam, you have mostly stuck to movies. What made TV the right medium to tell the story of Ptolemy?MOSLEY Television has the potential to do some amazing things that are good for drama, good for actors, and good for an audience to be able to understand and identify with characters who have real arcs of change. We’re coming up on our final season of “Snowfall,” and we’re going to get to see how things are going to work out or fall apart. That’s what’s been fun.JACKSON There’s a great satisfaction for me to have a character development that allows an audience to go back and say, “OK, that’s where he started. Oh, that’s why he’s this guy. Oh, that’s why he treats women this way.” We watched movies for a very long time before we realized something like “Roots” could come along and be a mini-series. All of a sudden, boom, there’s “Roots,” and you go, “[expletive], that’s the way to tell the story.”The novel takes place in Los Angeles, but the series takes place in Atlanta. Why the move?JACKSON Georgia has better tax breaks.MOSLEY Yes, it wasn’t feasible to do it in L.A. First, we were going to go to Atlanta and try to make Atlanta look like L.A. But Atlanta doesn’t look like L.A.JACKSON There’s not one palm tree in Atlanta.Did setting the series in Atlanta add anything thematically?JACKSON There are certain elements of Atlanta that are historically indigenous to telling a story like this. Anybody who’s lived in any place that’s full of Black people will recognize this. How many white people are in this story? There’s the doctor, and the nurse. A lot of people are going to look at this and go, “Where are the white people?” You didn’t encounter them unless you had to when I was growing up in the South. In Atlanta, they had Black insurance companies, they had Black newspapers. Everything you needed, you could get in the Black community. You didn’t have to go outside of it.MOSLEY I really do think that all of those things are trace elements that impacted the making of the series, with the actors and the crew just being in Atlanta. We would tell the story anywhere we were, but making it in Atlanta was in itself an experience, and that experience had to impart some of its history to the series.Let’s talk a little about the collaboration between you two. Walter, why was it important to have Sam onboard for this?MOSLEY Sam is a great actor, but that’s just a very small part of the answer to your question. I wrote the book 13 years ago. Sam knew the book better than I did. He’d say, “No, no. Don’t you remember? You did this,” and I’d say, “Oh, yeah. OK.” He’s also an executive producer, and his commitment to the book and getting it made is why we got it made. When I was shopping it, people would say, “Sam Jackson doesn’t do television.” Well you’re right, but he’s going to do this. His commitment to it, his talent in doing it, his willingness to play a very different kind of role than he usually does and to make that work so beautifully — it was really great.Sam, what is it about Walter’s work that pulls you in?JACKSON Walter is a very feet-on-the-ground kind of guy that understands and knows his characters and knows the environment that those characters are in. Environment is very important when you’re a reader. I read a lot, two or three books at a time. Descriptions and character development are very important things, no matter what, and Walter has a command of those things that a lot of writers don’t. I read bad novels along with good ones, but I always know that I’m going to get something very satisfying when I’m reading a Walter Mosley book. More

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      ‘Star Trek: Picard’ Recap: Q Is the Worst Friend Ever

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      Everyone’s favorite omnipotent being is back to reveal yet another alternate universe. But this time, he’s not giving out an education.Season 2, Episode 2: ‘Penance’“Show them a world of their own making and they ask you what you’ve done,” John de Lancie’s Q asks Jean-Luc Picard at the top of the second episode of this season’s “Picard.”This has been the modus operandi of our favorite omnipotent being who has long toyed with Picard as his guinea pig. Q causes a significant disruption, but it’s mostly to teach pitiful humans a stern lesson and get some yuks while doing it. This version of Q seems angrier — even slapping Picard in the face once, which seems a bit out of character, but this is Gritty Trek. (Recall that when Q appears in “Deep Space Nine,” Captain Sisko punches him in the face, which shocks Q, because he can’t conceive of one of his playthings turning to violence.)Q says that this time, he’s not giving out an education.“This is not a lesson,” Q barks. “It’s a penance.”A quick digression: Picard tells Q that he’s too old for his, you know, stuff. There’s a lingering issue from the first season of “Picard” that bothers me. It’s that Picard isn’t actually too old for anything. He’s no longer human. You might remember that Picard died last season! Then he woke up as some sort of aging synthetic being. This is the danger in messing with audience expectations with a fake death. There’s always a technological out for Picard, so he’s never really in any danger. That precedent the show has set for itself will affect the dramatic tension going forward.That doesn’t mean it can’t work. Spock died in “Wrath of Khan” and was brought back to life in the next movie. He remained a compelling character for several more films.In this case, Q places Picard and the rest of his friends in what initially appears to be a Mirror Universe, but turns out to be an altered reality. Several “Trek” franchises have taken on the Mirror Universe, but Picard’s “Next Generation” was never one of them.It’s not, however, the first time Q has revealed an alternate reality to Picard. In the “Next Generation” episode “Tapestry,” Q shows Picard that if a younger version of him hadn’t taken risks, he would have been unsatisfied for the rest of his life. There was also the series finale of “The Next Generation,” where Q goads Picard into creating an anomaly across several different timelines as part of the trial of humanity. Someone please get Q a job or a show to binge watch, for the galaxy’s sake.The stakes in this reality, though, are much higher. Q shows Picard a world in which the Federation were bloodthirsty conquerors. There’s even a Museum of Conquest! We see the remains of some classic “Trek” characters, like Gul Dukat, General Martok and Sarek — all apparently murdered by a Confederation force led by Picard, who wants a “pure” world according a recording of a speech. Subtle!“This is the only life you understand,” Q tells Picard. But maybe Q is crankier than usual because, as Picard points out, he’s not well.It’s not clear what exactly Q is trying to show Picard, because Picard has never been particularly violent. For the most part, he’s always tried to find peaceful solutions. But “Trek” has never shied away from politics. The parallels between white nationalists who have been in the news in the past few years and what Evil Picard describes is apparent. Separately, it hardly seems incidental that the Eradication Day rally near the end of the episode recalls rallies led by former president Donald J. Trump, complete with the crowd chanting Picard’s name.Seven of Nine is married and the leader of the Confederation. (Hey, at least she got a promotion.) Rios is a colonel. Elnor is a rebel. Raffi is somewhere in between. Jurati runs the “eradication” process — and has a digital cat named after Data’s, Spot. She deduces that there’s been a corruption in the timeline. One wonders if Whoopi Goldberg’s Guinan will make another appearance this season, since Guinan and Q have their own history.Elnor’s appearance gave me a chuckle because when he appears in the new reality, he is 100 percent on board with the uprising, despite not knowing anything about it or why he is there to begin with. This pretty much fits with his character. He has a keen moral sense, regardless of how much information he has.The Borg Queen made the trip, too. She tells Picard that one single decision made in 2024 had lasting consequences for the entire galaxy. (I wonder if there’s something happening in our 2024 that the show is alluding to!) Incidentally, Q is the entire reason that the Enterprise ever encountered the Borg to begin with, so thanks for that, man.A weird moment comes when Picard is deducing ways to go back in time and mentions that Kirk’s Enterprise did it “on more than one occasion.” Why didn’t he mention that his own Enterprise went back in time in “First Contact,” the best “Next Generation” movie?The occasional head-scratcher aside, the first two chapters of this season have been ambitious and compelling. It’s good to see Picard can still handle a phaser. The episode ends with Seven of Nine’s faux husband discovering that Picard’s merry band is too merry for this timeline. He fell in love with Seven’s cruelty, not her compassion! His idea of date night is genocide, which must’ve made for an interesting Bumble profile.’ More

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      Stephen Colbert: Major Food Brands Are ‘Russian’ for the Exits

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      “Yesterday, Coca-Cola and Pepsi announced that they will suspend business in Russia. Your move, Shasta!” Colbert said.Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous night’s highlights that lets you sleep — and lets us get paid to watch comedy. Here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now.In Good CompanyFood companies like Starbucks, McDonald’s and Coca-Cola said they would temporarily close their stores in Russia or stop distributing products in protest of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Stephen Colbert joked on Wednesday that Putin has succeeded in “uniting the entire free world against” Russia.“One Kremlin spokesperson expressed it in this threatening way: ‘The United States has declared economic war on Russia.’ Thank you for noticing,” Colbert said. “We feel seen.”“And with the Golden Arches closing down, Russians are going to have to settle for their local chain, McDostoevsky’s, home of their kids’ meal: the box of sadness. [Sings to the tune of the McDonald’s theme song] ‘Ba, da, ba, ba, da — life’s meaningless.’” — STEPHEN COLBERT“It looks like all major food brands are ‘Russian’ for the exits. Yesterday, Coca-Cola and Pepsi announced that they will suspend business in Russia. Your move, Shasta!” — STEPHEN COLBERT“Coke is suspending all of their operations, but Pepsi Co. announced they would continue to sell potato chips and daily essentials such as ‘milk, cheese and baby formula,’ to which Russian babies said, ‘Are you sure you don’t have Coke?’” — STEPHEN COLBERTThe Punchiest Punchlines (Closing Time Edition)“As we told you yesterday, McDonald’s, Starbucks and now Coca-Cola have announced that they are suspending business in Russia. Yes, which means the Russian people are going to be forced to develop diabetes on their own now.” — TREVOR NOAH“One of the major companies is Starbucks. They just closed all 130 of their stores over there. Yeah, and that was just on one street.” — JIMMY FALLON“There’s always Dunkin’ Donuts, but Putin was like: ‘Nyet. That’s what America runs on.’” — JIMMY FALLON“And the company that owns Pizza Hut, KFC and Taco Bell suspended its operations in Russia. I had no idea Taco Bell was popular in Russia. I guess that explains why everyone sits 50 feet apart from each other.” — JIMMY FALLON“And then, facing growing public pressure, Papa John’s announced that it is halting all Russian business operations. Russians were like, ‘Finally, some good news.’” — JIMMY FALLONThe Bits Worth Watching“The Daily Show” caught people on the streets of New York revealing their uninformed opinions on the Cancel Cam.What We’re Excited About on Thursday NightThe “Severance” star Adam Scott will sit down with James Corden on Thursday’s “Late Late Show.”Also, Check This OutParamount PicturesTest your “Godfather” knowledge in celebration of the film’s 50th anniversary. More

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      Before Jussie Smollett Sentencing, His Supporters Ask for ‘Mercy’

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      A judge must decide whether to send the actor to prison after a jury convicted him last year of falsely reporting that he was the victim of a racist and homophobic hate crime in 2019.Ahead of a sentencing hearing on Thursday, celebrities and racial justice advocates like Samuel L. Jackson and his wife, the actress LaTanya Richardson Jackson; the Rev. Jesse Jackson; and Derrick Johnson, the president of the N.A.A.C.P., have written letters pleading for leniency for Jussie Smollett, the actor convicted of falsely reporting that he was the victim of a racist and homophobic attack.“Jussie has already suffered,” the Rev. Jackson wrote to the judge handling the case. “He has been excoriated and vilified in the court of public opinion. His professional reputation has been severely damaged.”Mr. Smollett, 39, was convicted of felony disorderly conduct — which carries a maximum of three years in prison — relating to conversations he had with the police just after reporting the attack. But defendants convicted of similar crimes in the past have been sentenced to probation and community service.Many of the letters cite Mr. Smollett’s history of volunteer work, the nonviolent nature of his offense and the reputational damage he had already suffered following charges that the 2019 attack was actually a hoax that he had planned to drum up publicity. Others who have written on his behalf include the actress Alfre Woodard and Melina Abdullah, a founder of Black Lives Matter in Los Angeles.During the trial, the prosecution argued that Mr. Smollett had instructed two brothers, Abimbola Osundairo and Olabinjo Osundairo, to attack him near his Chicago apartment building, yelling racist and homophobic slurs at him, punching him hard enough to only create a bruise and placing a rope around his neck like a noose. Both brothers testified against him, acknowledging their role in the incident, which they said had been staged. The actor himself took the stand during seven hours of testimony over two days to deny that he had played any role.Prosecutors have not indicated whether they will push for prison time at the hearing.“It’s the judge who has the total and exclusive authority to impose a sentence,” said Daniel K. Webb, the special prosecutor who handled the case.Daniel K. Webb, the special prosecutor who handled the Smollett case, has not said whether he will recommend that the actor be sent to prison. Tannen Maury/EPA, via ShutterstockAt the outset of Thursday’s proceeding, Judge James B. Linn is expected to rule on a motion by lawyers for Mr. Smollett, who is best known for his role in the hip-hop drama “Empire,” that seeks to have the conviction thrown out or for the actor to gain a new trial.In papers filed with the court last month, the lawyers argued that Judge Linn displayed a “hostile attitude” toward the defense and acted inappropriately when the defense attempted to present evidence that one of the brothers had made homophobic statements and that the attack on Mr. Smollett, who is gay, could have been motivated by bias.In their motion, the defense lawyers cited an instance in which Judge Linn called a line of questioning about a homophobic comment by Olabinjo Osundairo “very collateral matters.”The defense argued that this comment could have swayed the jury and that the line of questioning was central to their argument that the Osundairo brothers perpetrated a “real attack” against Mr. Smollett “driven by homophobia.” (During testimony, Olabinjo Osundairo repeatedly denied being homophobic.)During the trial, Judge Linn rejected the defense’s request for a mistrial at the time, defending his use of the term “collateral” as simply referring to matters outside the direct facts of Mr. Smollett’s case.As part of their bid for a new trial, the defense also argued that during jury selection, prosecutors displayed a pattern of seeking to dismiss Black potential jurors — resulting in a final group that included one Black juror and a Black alternate.Prosecutors argued in court papers that the accusation of discrimination during jury selection was unfounded and that they had provided “race-neutral” explanations for challenging the inclusion of those jurors.Possibilities for Mr. Smollett’s sentence also include restitution, which, in his case, would likely mean paying the city of Chicago for the money it expended while investigating his hate crime report.In a court filing ahead of the sentencing, a city lawyer and the superintendent of the Chicago Police Department urged prosecutors to ask the court to order Mr. Smollett to pay them more than $130,000, explaining that police officers had “worked around the clock” to find the perpetrators of the attack.“The city is a victim of Mr. Smollett’s crimes because his false reports caused CPD to expend scarce resources that could have been devoted to solving actual crimes,” the filing said. The city currently has a pending lawsuit against Mr. Smollett in which they asked for the same amount of money.In their letter to Judge Linn, Samuel L. Jackson and LaTanya Richardson Jackson said they have known Mr. Smollett since he was a child and later through charitable work. The Jacksons asked Judge Linn for “mercy” and argued that Mr. Smollett “used his celebrity to impact community outreach work,” including to aid people in Flint, Mich., during the water crisis.In his letter, Rev. Jesse Jackson wrote that he worried about Mr. Smollett’s safety in prison as a “well-known, nonviolent, Black, gay man with Jewish heritage.”In making the sentencing decision, the court will consider Mr. Smollett’s criminal history, which involves a single incident from 2007 in California. He was convicted in that case of driving under the influence, driving without a license and giving false information to the police, all misdemeanors. Mr. Smollett was sentenced to probation and community service and was required to complete substance abuse treatment, according to a pre-sentencing report written by a probation officer and filed with the court.The report was based on an interview with Mr. Smollett after his conviction, in which the actor said he had been suffering from “excessive stress,” dealing with financial problems and asking to undergo substance abuse treatment for a few years. Mr. Smollett told the probation officer that he hoped to pursue directing.The actor, who is out of jail on bond, generally declined to discuss the specifics of his case during the interview with the probation officer. But when asked how his family had responded to the ordeal, he said, “They know me, and they know I did not do this.”Asked whether he planned to stay in his apartment in New York City, Mr. Smollet replied, “Everything is up in the air right now.” More

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      Leslie Jones Gets Revved Up by Vinyl, Live Tweeting and ‘Euphoria’

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      Sometimes even Leslie Jones doesn’t want to be Leslie Jones. That’s why her new comedy series, “Our Flag Means Death,” checks all of the boxes.“I was in as soon as they said, ‘Black pirate,’” Leslie Jones recalled about the offer to play Spanish Jackie in the HBO Max series “Our Flag Means Death.”Even better, Jones — a three-time Emmy nominee during her five audacious years on “Saturday Night Live” and a provocative live-tweeter on everything from Zoom backgrounds to the Olympics — was being asked to leave behind what she called her “crazy, out-there personality.”“We are so happy that Leslie Jones is here, but we don’t want Leslie Jones right now,” the comedy’s creator, David Jenkins, told her, giving Jones the freedom to embrace her inner rogue.“Our Flag Means Death” sends up the historical partnership between Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby), an aristocrat turned pirate, and the legendary Blackbeard (Taika Waititi). The marauders first encounter each other in the Republic of Pirates, where Spanish Jackie, in a Prince-style get-up, is a fearsome bar owner with 19 husbands — and out for revenge for the death of the 20th, her favorite.“She came up hard, and she’s probably had to fight so many men and prove that she is the captain of her ship and the boss of her life,” Jones said. “I’m not saying Leslie don’t have a little of that in her, but Spanish Jackie embodies being a badass.”Jones will soon be transforming into another not-so-Jones character — Mrs. Claus — for an as-yet untitled Christmas movie expected in 2023.“Now, if Santa knows when you’ve been naughty and nice, you definitely know Mrs. Claus knows that, right?” Jones said while discussing her cultural appetite in a recent video call from Los Angeles. “If anything, she’s doing most of the work.”Here are edited excerpts from the conversation.1. Los Angeles Lifestyle I always was in L.A. before I went to New York to do “S.N.L.” But I don’t think I appreciated L.A. until I moved back, because New York is hardcore. If you stay there longer than two years, you’re going to get sinus infections. It’s terrible. I never thought of New York as a place to actually live, but people do. They love it, you know? L.A. is just more personal space, just the sunshine out here. I love how relaxed it is, because the last seven years have been hectic. It’s like a nice breath of fresh air.2. Vinyl Records My dad was a D.J. forever, and he used to collect albums. I think he had up to 2,000 albums and when he passed, I had to sell the collection because I had nowhere to keep it. I was broke at the time. So now I’m collecting a lot of albums back. I got my little private record player in my office. Then I got one for the house that I could play over the speaker. It’s been so fun to have people send me albums because when you see them again, you go, “Oh my God, I thought it was a dream.”3. The Olympics The Olympics were a very important thing [when I was growing up]. I remember us getting school time off. I remember people taking days off of work to support the Games and the athletes. I always loved it, especially the gymnastics and the figure skating. What it’s come to now is great and how beautiful it is. I’ve always thought that this is the one time that all countries put down whatever it is that they have against each other and just compete in the Games. It’s almost a moment of world peace to me. Of course, it’s not now, with the timing and everything. But I always loved it because you had a team to cheer for. It was like, “Yeah, our country! Yeah, U.S.A.!”4. Mental health accountability in sports This is what people need to understand: It’s not enough just to be physically fit for these Games. You have to be mentally fit for these Games. One doesn’t work without the other. And the pressure that is put on these athletes has to be enormous. The way that they attacked Simone Biles, I was ashamed of our country because, first of all, most of the people that complained were sitting on their fat asses on the couch. You’ll never do a cartwheel and you have the nerve to talk about someone and tell them that they let the country down? We have to start taking accountability that they are not actually superheroes. They do make it look like they’re superheroes, but they are humans.5. Live Tweeting It’s a blessing and a curse at the same time, because I’m going be honest with you — I didn’t actually think people were going to catch on to it. The first time I live-tweeted might have been “Breaking Bad.” It had already been off the air for about five years, but it was so good that I was like, “I’ve got to tell people about this.” So it really did start off as fun. Now it is a job. The politics [commentary] started during Covid and sitting on the couch watching TV, and I don’t think people were paying attention to their backgrounds. I was like, “Does she know she’s in front of — what the [expletive] is that?” I’m always trying to find a way to make people laugh when things are bad. It’s relief. That is what a comic’s job is. We’re jesters.6. “Euphoria” Oh my God, it’s just such a great show. It also proved to me I was a [expletive] nerd if that’s really what’s going on in high school. And I thank my parents because this is the worst version of “Charlie Brown” I have ever seen. What in the absolute hell is going on in that town?7. “Bel-Air,” the “Fresh Prince” reboot I got to go to the premiere of “Bel-Air,” and it is sensational the way they did that. TV in the ’80s and ’90s used to be kind of goofy. But behind some of these goofy shows were great plots. So they took the goofiness out of it and made it an actual dramatic story. I told Will Smith, “This is chef’s kiss.” The Fresh Prince on the basketball court wasn’t just some goofy scene of the ball hitting the dude’s head. People got shot. It was like, “Whoa, so that’s why your mama got so scared to send you to L.A.”8. Stand-up I’ve been a comedian since 1987. All those years of hustling, hustling, hustling to be famous. And then when you become famous, the one thing that you’re so good at is not something that you can just go do anymore, because you’re known as a different person. For a long time, people didn’t even know I was a stand-up — they just thought I came on “S.N.L.” And I was like, “Are you kidding me? That used to pay all my bills.” Doing stand-up in its purest form is still something I love, but it’s not something I always get to do now because it’s hard to go into the clubs. I’m not going in as Leslie the comic, “Hey, can I get a spot?” I’m going in as Leslie Jones, “She’s about to bump everybody off the list.”9. Brown Bag Lady Charity in Los Angeles Everybody should know about Jacqueline Norvell. She literally started out on a bicycle with a basket full of lunches that she would give to homeless people. And now it’s turned into a big thing where she goes out every day. Sunday, she does a whole meal. She brings barbers down. She brings beauticians down. She gets some coats. She’s doing this by herself. I mean, everybody thinks that they can solve homelessness. You are not going to solve it. You just really have to be kind and do what you can. She’s taking that to the next level.10. Bryan Buckley, the director of her Super Bowl commercial Usually those commercials are kind of tedious or annoying. People will be asking you for stuff that you just go, “You’re not going to use that.” He was the first guy that I was like, “Oh, this guy knows what he is doing.” He asked specifically for what he wanted, and it’s just like, “Bam!” I think he’s known to be one of the best Super Bowl commercial directors. I was like, “I hope the commercial turns out OK, because it was so easy to do.” Usually when it’s really, really hard and stuff happens, the project turns out beautifully. I was scared that it was so easy. More