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      Howard Hesseman, the D.J. Johnny Fever in ‘WKRP in Cincinnati,’ Dies at 81

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      Mr. Hesseman played a fallen radio star who landed in the Midwest on the popular sitcom, which captured the misadventures of a struggling station.Howard Hesseman, the actor and improvisational comedian best known for playing a stuck-in-the-’60s radio disc jockey in the TV sitcom “WKRP in Cincinnati,” died on Saturday in Los Angeles. He was 81.His wife, Caroline Ducrocq, said he died at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center of complications from colon surgery last summer.Mr. Hesseman received two Emmy nominations for playing Dr. Johnny Fever on “WKRP in Cincinnati,” which ran on CBS for four seasons from 1978 to 1982.The series portrayed a struggling Top 40 rock radio station, where the staff rages against the age of disco with hard rock and punk songs. Mr. Hesseman’s hard-living character, having been pushed from a Los Angeles station where he was a star, serves as a senior member of the counterculture at the Midwestern outlet after smooth-talking his way into a job.“I think maybe Johnny smokes a little marijuana, drinks beer and wine, and maybe a little hard liquor,” Mr. Hesseman told The New York Times in 1979. “And on one of those hard mornings at the station, he might take what for many years was referred to as a diet pill. But he is a moderate user of soft drugs, specifically marijuana.”Johnny Fever was a cherished character on TV who embodied the essential traits of 1960s counterculture: the worship of rock bands; not-so-veiled drug references; long, shaggy hair.In one scene, he is wearing dark sunglasses while D.J.ing, speaking in a relaxed tone as he leans into the microphone and says in a thick voice, “We’re still rocking on the mighty KRP, where the razor man is standing by to sharpen up your day.”He told WXYZ-TV Detroit in 2012 that the show was made up of “a lovely company of actors, bolstered by a lovely bunch of writers, so it made going to work fun every day.”From left: Tim Reid, Loni Anderson, Jan Smithers and Howard Hesseman at a program in Beverly Hills in 2014 that reunited the cast of “WKRP in Cincinnati.” Michael Tran/FilmMagic, via Getty ImagesSome were probably not surprised to see Mr. Hesseman excel in that role. In San Francisco, where Mr. Hesseman helped start an improvisational comedy troupe, The Committee, he worked as a radio D.J. in 1967. At the Bay Area station, KMPX, he played “strange tapes” from the rock movement and smoked “a lot of pot — always against my will, of course,” he told People Weekly in 1979.Mr. Hesseman told The Times in 1979 that he spent 90 days in the San Francisco County Jail in 1963 for selling an ounce of marijuana — a conviction that was later thrown out for entrapment. He would later say that smoking marijuana was “sort of a residual hobby.”Before embarking on his acting and comedy career, Mr. Hesseman spent time in Salem, Ore., where he was born and raised as an only child by his mother and stepfather.An uncle in Colorado told him about acting, and years later, Mr. Hesseman would say, “Every time that I perform, it’s like repaying him a debt.”He briefly attended the University of Oregon, but he left school and moved to San Francisco, where he could focus on his career.Mr. Hesseman, who was also admired for his improvisational talent, played small parts in “The Andy Griffith Show” and “Sanford and Son.”George Spiro Dibie, the former national president of the International Cinematographers Guild, recalled in an interview with the Television Academy Foundation that Mr. Hesseman’s experience was evident on the set of “Head of the Class,” a sitcom that ran on ABC from 1986 to 1991.“He was even telling some directors what to do,” he said. Mr. Hesseman played Charlie Moore, a teacher at a Manhattan high school contending with a class of overachieving students.Mr. Hesseman as the high school teacher Charlie Moore in “Head of the Class.”ABC Photo Archives, via Getty ImagesHe landed roles in cult classics like the mockumentary “This Is Spinal Tap,” where he acted alongside Michael McKean, who said on Twitter on Sunday that it was “impossible to overstate Howard Hesseman’s influence on his and subsequent generations of improvisers.”In 1981, after two marriages ended in divorce, he met Ms. Ducrocq, an actress from France who was visiting Los Angeles. Ms Ducrocq’s friend asked her if she wanted to swim at an actor’s pool, and she said yes.“I had no idea who he was,” Ms. Ducrocq said, laughing.She stayed at his place for dinner, and then stayed when he brought out a bottle of Champagne, which, she later learned, he had never drunk in his life. In 1989, they married.He loved listening to jazz, swimming and catching up with his godchildren, she said.Mr. Hesseman once said in an interview that “the smile keeps you feeling younger; work keeps you feeling a little bit more agile.”He is survived by Ms. Ducrocq. More

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      Joe Exotic Is Resentenced to 21 Years for ‘Tiger King’ Murder-for-Hire Plot

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      Joe Exotic, the former Oklahoma zoo owner who was the central figure in the 2020 Netflix documentary series “Tiger King,” was resentenced to 21 years in prison on Friday for the failed murder-for-hire plot targeting Carole Baskin, a self-proclaimed animal-rights activist who had criticized his zoo’s treatment of animals, his lawyers said.The new sentence reduces his punishment by one year. The original sentence, for 22 years in prison, was vacated as improper by a federal appeals court last summer.John M. Phillips, a lawyer for Joe Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, said in a statement, “We are unsatisfied with the court’s decision and will appeal.” At a news conference, he said that Mr. Maldonado-Passage was disappointed.In court documents on Friday, Mr. Maldonado-Passage said, “Please don’t make me deal with cancer in prison waiting on an appeal.”In November, Mr. Maldonado-Passage said he received a diagnosis of an “aggressive” form of prostate cancer.Mr. Maldonado-Passage, 58, was initially sentenced to prison in 2020 after twice attempting to hire people — including an undercover F.B.I. agent — to kill Ms. Baskin; their rivalry was one of the main plot lines of “Tiger King.” He was also found guilty of falsifying wildlife records and violating the Endangered Species Act for his role in trafficking and killing tigers.Last summer, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit ruled in favor of Mr. Maldonado-Passage’s appeal that his sentence was too long. Lawyers for the reality TV star had argued that a Federal District Court in Oklahoma had not grouped his two murder-for-hire convictions when his sentence was calculated. If the two counts had been grouped instead of considered for separate sentences, his prison term could have been as short as 17 and a half years, the court said.After the ruling, in a recording that his lawyers provided to The New York Times, Mr. Maldonado-Passage said his original sentence was “absolute crap.”Mr. Maldonado-Passage has always maintained his innocence and waged public campaigns, mostly through social media, for his release from prison. He failed to receive a pardon from former President Donald J. Trump in 2021 after months of petitioning and has since refocused his efforts on President Biden. After he received his cancer diagnosis, Mr. Maldonado-Passage was later transferred to a medical facility in North Carolina, according to his lawyer, Mr. Phillips.The next month, court documents showed that Mr. Maldonado-Passage was delaying treatment until after his resentencing, according to The Associated Press.At the courthouse in Oklahoma City on Friday, supporters of Mr. Maldonado-Passage attended the hearing, some wearing animal-print masks and T-shirts that read: “Free Joe Exotic,” The A.P. reported.Johnny Diaz More

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      Peter Robbins, Original Voice of Charlie Brown, Dies at 65

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      Mr. Robbins, who first gave voice to the “Peanuts” character in a 1965 Christmas special, had struggled with mental illness and addiction in recent years.Peter Robbins, whose voice brought the “Peanuts” character Charlie Brown to life on television in the 1960s but who struggled with mental illness and served prison time later in his life, died on Jan. 18 in Oceanside, Calif. He was 65.The cause of death was suicide, according to the San Diego County Medical Examiner.A list of his survivors was not immediately available.At age 9, Mr. Robbins achieved a breakthrough when the producers of the 1965 TV movie “A Charlie Brown Christmas” cast him as the voice of the hapless but endearing central character.Introduced in Charles M. Schulz’s popular comic strip “Peanuts,” Charlie Brown would become a sentimental presence on the screen with his catchphrase, “Good grief!,” familiar yellow shirt and frequent teasing by his friend Lucy.Mr. Robbins, who was born Louis G. Nanasi, would share in the franchise’s success, narrating at least six other television and movie productions, including “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” in 1966 and “You’re in Love, Charlie Brown” a year later.During his career, Mr. Robbins appeared in episodes of the television shows “Rawhide,” “The Munsters,” “Get Smart” and “My Three Sons,” according to IMDb.In the decades after his work as the voice of Charlie Brown, Mr. Robbins was unable to sustain his early success and publicly grappled with mental illness and substance abuse.In a 2019 interview with KSWB-TV, a Fox station in San Diego, he said that he had bipolar disorder. The station spoke to Mr. Robbins after his release from prison, where he had served 80 percent of a nearly five-year sentence for threatening several people, including the San Diego County sheriff and the property manager of a mobile home park near San Diego.In 2013, Mr. Robbins pleaded guilty to threatening his onetime girlfriend and stalking a doctor who performed breast-enhancement surgery on her, the station reported.He was arrested again in 2015 for violating the terms of this probation, according to the station, which reported that Mr. Robbins had made criminal threats toward a judge and written letters from jail offering to pay $50,000 to have William D. Gore, the San Diego County sheriff, killed.“I went on a manic phase where I bought a motor home, a mobile home, two German sports cars and a pitbull named Snoopy,” Mr. Robbins told the station in 2019.The actor said he regretted not getting help sooner for his mental illness.“I would recommend to anybody that has bipolar disorder to take it seriously,” he said, “because your life can turn around in a span of a month like it did to me.”If you are having thoughts of suicide, in the United States call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 (TALK) or go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for a list of additional resources. Go here for resources outside the United States.Susan Campbell Beachy More

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      Karen Pittman Isn’t the New Samantha on 'And Just Like That'

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      The actress, who stars in “And Just Like That,” finds peace at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.“World peace,” the actress Karen Pittman said, placing one penny beneath a stone fox. “And my peace.”This was on a misty Sunday just after New Year’s and Ms. Pittman had paused at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden to set some intentions for the new year, leaving pennies alongside the coins and oranges offered by other visitors.The garden stands near her apartment in Prospect Heights. When she returned from Los Angeles, where “The Morning Show,” on AppleTV+, is filmed, to Brooklyn for HBO Max’s “And Just Like That,” she rented it for this exact reason.Most weekday mornings, after Ms. Pittman sees her two children off to school, she slips into the garden to decompress from the stresses of life and work. “I used to be able to meditate,” she said. “Now it’s just too stressful trying to figure out how to meditate in a pandemic.” So she sits in the garden instead. “It just immediately replenishes,” she said.That Sunday she had found a new space for replenishment. The shrine, hidden among conifers, is dedicated to Inari, the Shinto spirit who blesses the harvest. For Ms. Pittman, who declined to give her age, the harvest of the past few years has been plentiful.After lead roles on Broadway (“Disgraced”) and off (“Pipeline”), she has graduated to major roles on television: as Mia Jordan, an overextended producer on “The Morning Show,” and as Nya Wallace, a Columbia law professor contending with infertility on “And Just Like That.”Ms. Pittman plays a law professor in “And Just Like That,” opposite Cynthia Nixon, right.   Craig Blankenhorn/HBO MaxNya is one of four new characters devised, it seems, to correct the overwhelming whiteness of “Sex and the City,” the predecessor of “And Just Like That.” The show’s creators had promised that Nya — along with Che (Sara Ramirez), Seema (Sarita Choudhury) and Lisa (Nicole Ari Parker) — would join Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte as main characters.The ‘Sex and the City’ UniverseThe sprawling franchise revolutionized how women were portrayed on the screen. And the show isn’t over yet. A New Series: Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte return for another strut down the premium cable runway in “And Just Like That,” streaming on HBO. Off Broadway: Candace Bushnell, whose writing gave birth to the “Sex and the City” universe, stars in her one-woman show based on her life. In Carrie’s Footsteps: “Sex and the City” painted a seductive vision of Manhattan, inspiring many young women to move to the city. The Origins: For the show’s 20th anniversary in 2018, Bushnell shared how a collection of essays turned into a pathbreaking series.In the early episodes, Nya’s scenes mostly abetted Miranda’s journey toward self-actualization. But later episodes have offered Ms. Pittman more substantial material and even a sex scene of her own. “I don’t feel like I need 10 episodes to tell a great story about my character,” she said. “I am much more interested in the ensemble work.”Whether the role is large or small, casting directors typically don’t hire Ms. Pittman for frivolous or lightweight parts. She almost always gets cast as hyper-competent professional women with messy inner lives.“That’s certainly been my life experience,” she said. As a woman who juggles co-parenting with her former husband with a successful career, she can relate. “I bring that deeper, resonant emotional life to the characters that I play,” she said. “This thing of having it all, like, it actually doesn’t work.”On that morning, however, Ms. Pittman seemed to be giving it a try. The garden was dressed for winter — bare branches, untenanted beds, patches of dirt. But Ms. Pittman had dressed for spring in a lilac Altuzzara coat and spindly gold heels with eye shadow to match, mixing meditation with glamour. (Sensibly, she switched to flats after posing for a few photos.)After entering the garden, she made her way through the cherry esplanade, where she stopped to compliment a toddler on her bright blue boots. She then headed to the water garden, passing an installation for the garden’s winter lightscape, which she had visited with her children on Christmas Eve.“It was all very festive,” she said. “There was mulled wine and hot chocolate. We were in the middle of that surge. And people were trying to stay away from each other. But it was very Christmas-y.”And just past the children’s garden, she lingered to admire some winterberries, which appeared scarlet and orange against the gray sky, and a Norwegian spruce that seemed to be extending a branch to her. “A tree that comes out and gives you a hug,” she said.Did she need a hug? Last year had been difficult, she said. Shooting “The Morning Show” in the middle of the pandemic had meant constant testing and frequent stoppages. (She and some colleagues had taken to calling it “The Next Morning Show.”)Olivia Galli for The New York Times“There were days where I was like, definitely going to catch this thing today. Definitely,” she said. And the turbulent emotional life her character Mia, a producer who had a consensual relationship with the disgraced former host played by Steve Carrell, hadn’t helped.“My character went through so much,” she said.A child in a stroller seemed dazzled by Ms. Pittman. The child stared at her, then offered her a rock, which she kindly let the child keep. Past the lily pads and the magnolias and the hill of daffodils, all resting for winter, she paused at the Shakespeare Garden, which contains every botanical mentioned in Shakespeare’s plays.Opposite some lemon balm, she recited a line of Cleopatra’s — “The poison is as sweet as balm, as soft as air” — which she remembered from her classical training in the graduate acting program at New York University. Shoes aside, she looked every inch the queen.Finishing her walk at the Hill-and-Pond Garden, she admired the koi rippling just below the pond’s still surface. Even though she didn’t have extra pennies, she set one more New Year’s intention for herself.“I love ensemble work, but I need to lead a story,” she said. “Power is being able to tell the story you want to tell. That’s real power. I’m ready.” More

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      Late Night Supports Biden’s Supreme Court Strategy

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      Trevor Noah joked that Biden will nominate a Black woman to replace Stephen Breyer “because he cares deeply about representation and winning Georgia.”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.He’s Got a TypeOn Thursday, Justice Stephen Breyer officially announced his plans to retire from the Supreme Court. President Biden reaffirmed his campaign promise to nominate a Black woman to the court, “because he cares deeply about representation and winning Georgia,” Trevor Noah joked on “The Daily Show.”“After White House press secretary Jen Psaki said yesterday that President Biden will stand by his commitment to appoint a Black woman to the Supreme Court, a Fox News panel criticized the administration’s selection process. I’ll take a wild guess and say they have exactly two problems with a Black woman.” — SETH MEYERS“Joe Biden is going to pick a Black woman who is also qualified. These people act like Biden is just going to show up at the mall and be, like, ‘Yo, Shaniqua, come with me.’ ‘Uh, my name is Regina.’ ‘It doesn’t matter — just put on these robes, I need help with abortion.’” — TREVOR NOAH“No, she’s going to be qualified — and why is that a bad thing? Why not make the Supreme Court a little more representative of the country it represents? I mean, their rulings impact the lives of every person in the country, so it would be nice to have at least one justice on there who’s had to ask the Walgreens guy to unlock the shampoo shelf.” — TREVOR NOAH“At the same time, I also hear what the Fox people are saying, you know? It shouldn’t matter whether you’re Black or white, this position should only go to the most qualified judge who also thinks that guns are people.” — TREVOR NOAHThe Punchiest Punchlines (Minnie’s New Look Edition)“In honor of the park’s 30th anniversary and Women’s History Month in March, Disneyland Paris announced yesterday that Minnie Mouse will wear a dark blue and black, polka-dotted pantsuit designed by Stella McCartney. Unfortunately, that still won’t make up for the fact that you brought your wife to Paris and then took her to Disneyland.” — SETH MEYERS“Minnie’s new look will debut in March at Disneyland Paris, which is just like regular Disneyland, only more existential.” — STEPHEN COLBERT“Unfortunately, Donald Duck is still running around with his cloaca out, just waving in the wind.” — STEPHEN COLBERT“It’s a fun little story, and you’d have to be a desperate, culture war troll to take issue with it, which is why Fox News took issue with it.” — STEPHEN COLBERT“No one is talking about Minnie Mouse on the other channels. If Minnie Mouse getting a new outfit upsets you, I would recommend turning 4 years old.” — JIMMY KIMMEL“Honestly, genuinely, I’d wear it.” — JAMES CORDENThe Bits Worth WatchingSamantha Bee made a case for why Kyrsten Sinema has annoyed Democrats for longer than most Americans might be aware.Also, Check This Out“Playing ‘Jeopardy!’ has been the most fun I’ve ever had and I didn’t want it to end,” Amy Schneider said. “I knew it would some time, but it was tough to realize that the moment was finally there.”via Jeopardy Productions, Inc.Amy Schneider’s whirlwind “Jeopardy!” winning streak ended with a loss during her 41st game on Wednesday. More

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      Amy Schneider on Her Whirlwind ‘Jeopardy!’ Run

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      She seemed unstoppable, but on Wednesday, it happened. After 40 wins, Amy Schneider, the “Jeopardy!” champion whose information recall often seemed faster than a search engine, was defeated.Schneider ended with the second longest streak in the history of the game and $1.4 million in total winnings. She was beat by Rhone Talsma, a 29-year-old librarian from Chicago, who answered the Final Jeopardy clue correctly when Schneider did not. His face after his win was one of absolute shock. (He said in an interview Wednesday that he had thought defeat was inevitable because of Schneider’s record.)Schneider, 42, an engineering manager who lives in Oakland, Calif., has been through a whirlwind couple of months, fulfilling a longtime dream of being on the show and contending with becoming a public figure as she rocketed to game-show fame.As a transgender woman, she dealt with bigotry online, responding to it graciously on social media; she also received a stream of encouragement and affirmation from those thrilled to see a transgender person succeed so mightily on television.In an interview on Wednesday, she spoke about her final game and what her run on “Jeopardy!” has meant to her. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.Do you have one overwhelming emotion right now, or is it a mix of them?It’s definitely a mix. A lot of it is emotions that I had at the time, but the one that’s really different is that my fans on Twitter and everything are going to be sad. And it bums me out.Take me back to the beginning of this game. Do you remember how you were feeling?You know, I had a feeling about that day, some reason. You wouldn’t really think so from looking at the scores of the last week, but once I passed Matt Amodio, there was this like motivation — I could feel it slip. You know, Ken’s record still seems so far away. And the fatigue of this taping was really starting to add up. I couldn’t explain it even to myself, but I just could feel that something was slipping a little bit, however much I tried to fight it.Read More About ‘Jeopardy!’A New Legend: Her dazzling 40-game run is over, but Amy Schneider reached historic milestones for money won and consecutive victories.On a Roll: Schneider’s long streak is not a one-off: The show has seen an unusual trend of big winners lately. But why?Hosting Duo: Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik are sharing the role this season, putting an end to the speculation around the job — for now.A Rattled TV Institution: Replacing the late Alex Trebek has been an ongoing saga for the show. Here’s how the messy succession unfolded.How many games had you played that day?This was the third. It was right after lunch. And another thing I did kind of have a feeling about was Rhone. Ken would often say how, when he was eventually defeated, it was the person who was just friendly and wanted to hang out, wasn’t intimidated by him. That was definitely true of Rhone. And he was also really a fun guy to hang out with. And I was like, well, if it had to be someone, I’m glad it was him.What was the turning point of that game?There was one clue that both of us knew the answer to, and he beat me on the buzzer and then that gave him the Daily Double. And he — I think quite correctly — made the bold move and bet everything to really go for the win and it paid off for him. And once he had gotten that Daily Double, I knew that, at the very least, it was going to come down to Final Jeopardy.Walk me through that Final Jeopardy. How are you feeling about the category (Countries of the World)?I felt great about the category. Geography has always been a strong subject of mine. And then the clue came up, and it just wasn’t coming to me. And it was very frustrating.[The clue: The only nation in the world whose name in English ends in an “H,” it’s also one of the 10 most populous.]I remember my mind, as it was hopping through the world. I was like, “India; no. Pakistan; no. Nepal; no.” And then it just moved on and I was right there by Bangladesh and I didn’t get it.A lot of times during this run you’ve been totally secure going into Final Jeopardy. So this was kind of unusual, right?Yeah, it had happened a few times before, but not anytime recently. And so I’d sort of forgotten what that fear was like and that kind of pressure.How did it feel sinking in that it was over?I mean, it was tough. Playing “Jeopardy!” has been the most fun I’ve ever had and I didn’t want it to end. I knew it would some time, but it was tough to realize that the moment was finally there. That said, there was some relief as well. One of the first thoughts I had was, well, I don’t have to come up with any more anecdotes. And it had been a lot, going out of town every week, and it was just nice to be like, OK, I can just get back to my normal life with Genevieve [Schneider’s girlfriend].I can only imagine how mentally and emotionally taxing it was. Describe how you felt after a day taping five games.Just done. I would call Genevieve and let her know what happened and then go back either to the hotel room or the airport, depending what day it was, and just like sit there, lie there and just do nothing. Not think, not read on my phone, just like nothing for like an hour every time.What did you learn from this experience, first in terms of trivia, and then in terms of your life and who you are?Well, definitely Bangladesh. I can tell you that. It’s mainly around some of the stuff I missed. Like the Field Museum the other day [the correct response to Final Jeopardy] — that was frustrating.And in terms of your life more broadly?I think the main thing that I got out of this was being OK with myself, how I look, how I present to the world. I’ve been openly trans for a little under five years now, and there’s still definitely lingering worry and dysphoria and things like that.Just to get so much positive feedback, so much support and so much acceptance, it enabled me — by the end of it — to look at myself on TV and be like, “Oh, you know, she’s pretty, she’s fun, what a likable person.” And I’ve never been able to see myself that way before.What kind of feedback have you heard from transgender “Jeopardy!” fans or just transgender people in general who have reached out to you?Just a ton of support. That’s been really great and really meaningful. I think that just as great, just as meaningful, has been hearing from parents, grandparents, loved ones of trans people and hearing either that they understand their trans loved ones better, or, a lot of times too, that I’ve eased their fears for their trans loved ones, seeing that trans people can succeed and they’re not going to be as limited as maybe they feared that they would be. More

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      Jussie Smollett Sentencing Is Set for March 10

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      A judge in Chicago on Thursday set March 10 as the date on which the actor Jussie Smollett will be sentenced following his conviction in the filing of a false police report in which he claimed to have been the victim of a racist and homophobic attack.A jury found Mr. Smollett guilty last year of five counts of felony disorderly conduct related to the false report; he was acquitted on another similar count. On Thursday, Mr. Smollett, formerly an actor on the Fox music-industry drama “Empire,” and his lawyers remotely attended his first court hearing following the conviction.Mr. Smollett, who was released on bond after his conviction and attended the brief hearing from New York, told the judge he would show up in person for his sentencing.In January 2019, Mr. Smollett reported to the police that two assailants had beaten him, yelled racist and homophobic slurs at him, placed a rope around his neck and poured bleach on his clothing in an early morning assault.Two brothers, Abimbola Osundairo and Olabinjo Osundairo, who the police determined to have been the assailants, later told the jury at trial last year that Mr. Smollett had directed them to carry out the attack.Prosecutors argued that Mr. Smollett’s account was a hoax orchestrated for publicity.Mr. Smollett’s lead lawyer, Nenye Uche, has said his client plans to appeal the verdict. Mr. Smollett, who testified during the trial, maintained he was the victim of a real attack. His lawyers argued that the Osundairo brothers were liars who had attacked Mr. Smollett to scare him into hiring them as bodyguards, and who concocted a story to avoid prosecution themselves.Mr. Smollett’s conviction carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison.Daniel K. Webb, the special prosecutor who handled the case, has not yet indicated whether he would make a recommendation of prison time to the judge but has emphasized how serious he thought the case was, saying after the conviction that Mr. Smollett was “not repentant at all.”Some experts said they would find it surprising if Mr. Smollett were to be imprisoned because he was convicted of the lowest level felony offense and has no prior felony convictions. Mr. Uche said last month that he had “never seen a case like this where the person got jail time,” adding that he believed Mr. Smollett would be vindicated on appeal. More

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      ‘And Just Like That’ Episode 9 Recap: A Challenging Period

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      The ladies attempt to lighten up as relationships evolve and the series draws nearer to a close. Will it end in happy endings or broken hearts?Season 1, Episode 9“If they make Charlotte pregnant at 55 …,” I winced to myself as she gabbed to Carrie and Miranda that she hadn’t gotten her period in four months. But as soon as I saw her arrive to paint the women’s shelter in a stark white limo and a stark white get-up, I knew what was coming.This week’s episode spent a headscratch-inducing amount of time on menstrual drama. First there was Charlotte, teetering on the edge of menopause and ending up with a giant red stain on her pants. And then there was her daughter Lily, and all the brouhaha surrounding her first use of a tampon. Charlotte runs a clinic in their bathroom, showing Lily a multitude of insertion methods, only to have all that training go to pieces when Lily determines that she can’t get it out on her own, yelling to her mother for help from inside a Port-o-Potty.It was a lot. It seemed like an attempt, though, to lighten an episode focused almost entirely on our heroines’ various attempts to lighten up themselves.If anyone needs to take a giant chill, it’s Miranda — and that’s according to Miranda. She and Che are now dating (or as Che defines it, “getting to know each other”), but Miranda is all in. She’s deep in the honeymoon phase, but she’s on her own there, casually dropping the “girlfriend” label in front of strangers, eliciting a chilly reaction from Che, and showing up unexpectedly with cookies and kisses at Che’s door, only to be rebuffed.Miranda suddenly feels like a fool, or as she puts it, like a dopey Meg Ryan. She is doing all the whimsical, romantic, fluffy stuff she used to scold her friends for — Carrie especially.The ‘Sex and the City’ UniverseThe sprawling franchise revolutionized how women were portrayed on the screen. And the show isn’t over yet. A New Series: Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte return for another strut down the premium cable runway in “And Just Like That,” streaming on HBO. Off Broadway: Candace Bushnell, whose writing gave birth to the “Sex and the City” universe, stars in her one-woman show based on her life. In Carrie’s Footsteps: “Sex and the City” painted a seductive vision of Manhattan, inspiring many young women to move to the city. The Origins: For the show’s 20th anniversary in 2018, Bushnell shared how a collection of essays turned into a pathbreaking series.Remember in Season 3 of “Sex and the City” when Miranda chastised Carrie for turning into “this pathetic, needy, insecure victim” anytime she got near Big? Or in Season 6 when she yelled at Carrie in the middle of the street that Carrie was “living in a fantasy” when she decided to abscond to Paris with the Russian? Carrie wasn’t smart when it came to love, and now, neither is Miranda. And she doesn’t like it.So she tries to play coy, not answering when Che calls her phone, only to become frazzled when Che doesn’t leave a voice mail message. “Oh so you’re doing ‘The Rules’ now?” Carrie chides.And yes, all of this is ill-fitted to no-nonsense Miranda, and to some viewers, that seems like a betrayal of her character. But I disagree. Miranda always had the luxury of pragmatism when it came to love because, looking back, it doesn’t seem as if she ever really felt it. Neither the cutie Skipper Johnston (Ben Weber) nor the sexy Dr. Robert Leeds (Blair Underwood) nor our beloved, steadfast Steve ever got under her skin the way Che has. This is Miranda in love, and it turns out she’s no better at it than the rest of us.So now, for the first time ever, Miranda is leading with her heart instead of her head, and it’s making her a completely different person. Che has awaked something in her that she never knew existed, and if that doesn’t shift something inside, what does? The only sad thing about it is that while Miranda’s heart is suddenly opening up, Steve’s heart is being demolished.As Steve and Carrie dutifully pitch in at Nya’s shelter-painting event — a scene during which I wanted to jump through the screen and give Steve a big hug — Steve asks the uncomfortable questions he has every right to ask: Did Carrie know about Miranda and Che? Did she introduce them? How long did their affair go on?Carrie stumbles, over her words and over her paint tray, and ends up in the bathroom washing off her completely-inappropriate-for-painting (but completely-appropriate-for-Carrie-painting) shoes. In the process, Big’s wedding ring — which Carrie has been wearing since she canceled date No. 2 with Peter earlier in the episode — slips off her finger and goes down the drain.Steve comes to the rescue, employing some rudimentary plumbing skills to help Carrie get the ring back. When it falls out of the pipe, she is overwhelmed with relief. She can hold on at least to that little scrap of her marriage.It turns out Steve is doing the same thing. He points to his own wedding ring and announces to Carrie that it’s never coming off. “You are such a wonderful, wonderful person,” Carrie sighs. “Don’t you maybe want to find someone, at some point?”“Never coming off,” he reiterates.Although the circumstances surrounding the ends of their marriages are completely different, both Carrie and Steve are hanging on to spouses who are never coming back.But by the time Carrie returns home, she realizes she doesn’t actually want to be like Steve. She takes off Big’s wedding ring and her own, and she tucks them away in a drawer. Perhaps she, too, could lighten up a bit. At the episode’s end, she texts Peter to see if he’s up for giving a date one more go.And just like that … it’s almost over. Will this chapter wrap up in happy endings or broken hearts? Or maybe something else entirely? We’ll all find out next week.Things I Can’t Stop Thinking About:There is precisely one thing living rent free in my head, which I actually want to evict: The moment when Anthony’s new beau casually states that the Holocaust is a hoax within seconds of entering the Goldenblatt home. It’s hard to imagine that fringe conspiracy theory would be 1) embraced by and 2) brought up by any member of a marginalized community in a Jewish home in the middle of Manhattan in 2022.Still, I will be making a GIF of Anthony screaming, “Get out!” and using it routinely on Twitter going forward. (Just kidding, I don’t know how to make GIFs. But if any of you readers do, please share.) More