The daily gossip: Ricky Martin's nephew withdraws incest allegations, Jordan Peele shoots down claim he's the best horror director ever, and more

Today's top entertainment and celebrity news

Ricky Martin
(Image credit: Lionel Hahn/Getty Images)

1. Ricky Martin's nephew withdraws incest allegations

Things are generally never going well when your name appears in a headline with the phrase "incest allegations." But on Thursday, Ricky Martin received a victory in court as his nephew withdrew some shocking claims against him. The singer's 21-year-old nephew recently filed a restraining order, claiming they had a seven-month affair and that Martin stalked and harassed him after it ended. Martin's attorney denied the "disgusting" allegations, saying he would never be "involved in any kind of sexual or romantic relationship with his nephew." On Thursday, the nephew reportedly withdrew the claims, leading the restraining order to be dismissed. In a video statement, Martin said the "nonsense" allegations have been "painful" and "devastating" for him and his family. "I wish him the best," Martin said of his nephew, "and I wish he finds the help so he can start a new life filled with love and truth and joy and that he doesn't hurt anyone else."

Variety TMZ

2. Jordan Peele shoots down claim he's the best horror director of all time

Is Jordan Peele officially the greatest horror director ever? According to Jordan Peele, the answer is a resounding nope. Ahead of the release of Peele's third film Nope, comics creator Adam Ellis dropped a piping hot take on Twitter, asking, "At what point do we declare Jordan Peele the best horror director of all time?" Ellis added, "Can you think of another horror director that had 3 great films, let alone 3 in a row? I can't." Well, a lot of people in the replies could — like John Carpenter, for example. As all of Film Twitter piled on, Peele himself eventually got involved. "Sir, please put the phone down I beg you," Peele replied to Ellis. "Sorry. I love your enthusiasm but, I will just not tolerate any John Carpenter slander!!!" We look forward to Peele's fourth feature film: Never Tweet.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Twitter

3. Evan Rachel Wood seemingly distances herself from Amber Heard

Evan Rachel Wood has commented on the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard situation with a rather forceful "no comment." The actress took to Instagram to slam news articles claiming that she supports Heard following the Aquaman star's defamation loss to Depp. "I know you are just chomping at the bit to say I support one over the other," Wood wrote. But she said she actually has "no comment," and she denied an old picture of her with Heard proves she supports the actress. "With certain logic, everyone who was seen in a photo with Weinstein would have to be a rapist," she wrote. Wood, who's currently in her own defamation battle with her alleged abuser, Marilyn Manson, quickly faced criticism from Heard's supporters, with journalist Eve Barlow tweeting, "It looks like you're calling Amber an abuser, and you're comparing her to Weinstein. ... This is not it."

Instagram

4. Kate McKinnon explains why she left 'SNL'

Live from New York, it's ... time for a nap. Kate McKinnon is opening up about her decision to leave Saturday Night Live after ten years. "I was just like, my body was tired," she said Thursday on Live With Kelly and Ryan. "And I felt like it was time." McKinnon joined the sketch show in 2012 and became one of its breakout stars, winning two back-to-back Emmys. She told Kelly and Ryan she thought about whether to leave "for a very long time," and it was a "very, very hard" decision because "all I ever wanted to do in my whole life was be on Saturday Night Live." Now that she's Hallelujah-ed her way into the sunset, though, can McKinnon bring herself to watch SNL as a fan? "I don't know that I can watch the show yet," she said, "because it's just too emo. … I think I'm just going to tape The Bachelorette."

Entertainment Weekly

5. Disney+ is suddenly fine with R-rated movies

It's the most F-bomb-filled place on Earth! Disney has done an about-face when it comes to R-rated movies on its streaming service, announcing Thursday that the Deadpool films and the X-Men spinoff Logan will be added. These will be the first ever R-rated movies available to stream on Disney+. When the streaming service launched in 2019, Disney was famously reluctant to stream anything that might taint its family-friendly brand — to the point that it reportedly even censored a shot of a butt in the PG movie Splash by obscuring it with CGI hair. But Disney previously dipped its toes into the adult content pool in March by adding the Marvel Netflix shows, some of which are rated TV-MA, and now it appears R-rated films are no longer off limits. Now maybe we can finally find out what the foul-mouthed R2-D2 has really been saying all these years.

The Hollywood Reporter

To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.