The daily gossip: James Franco cast as Fidel Castro, Doja Cat shaves her head because 'I don't like having hair,' and more

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Doja Cat
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1. James Franco cast as Fidel Castro

Well, this is certainly A Choice. Supposedly canceled actor James Franco is set to play Cuban leader Fidel Castro in a new movie called Alina of Cuba, according to Deadline. Wait a minute, you might be thinking ... was there really not one single Cuban actor in Hollywood available for the role? Well, in an absurdly lengthy statement, producer John Martinez O'Felan defended the decision, saying his team conducted an extensive search "to find someone who has a similar facial structure" as Castro and determined Franco "had the closest facial likeness of our industry's leading actors." If you say so! The news faced significant pushback, and John Leguizamo slammed Franco's casting because "he ain't Latino!" — perhaps only feeding into the actor's elaborate plot to create an all-new type of backlash that might overshadow the fact that he also still faces multiple sexual misconduct allegations. Is Franco's new publicist Nathan Fielder, or what?

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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.