The daily gossip: Quentin Tarantino spends entire podcast mourning fictional character Rick Dalton, Nick Jonas went to therapy after 'tragic guitar solo debacle,' and more

1. Quentin Tarantino dedicates entire podcast episode to 'death' of Rick Dalton, a fictional character

Quentin Tarantino is blurring the line between pulp fact and pulp fiction. The director dedicated the latest episode of his film podcast to mourning actor Rick Dalton, a person who never actually existed. Leonardo DiCaprio played Dalton, a fictional actor, in Tarantino's 2019 movie "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood." But Tarantino opens Tuesday's "Video Archives Podcast" by somberly informing viewers Dalton "passed from this Earth" last Friday. He and his co-host, Roger Avary, proceed to spend the entire 90-minute podcast discussing Dalton's career as if he was an actual actor. They never once drop the bit as they review Dalton's nonexistent performances, read from a lengthy Q&A that Tarantino supposedly conducted with him, and pretend the fiery climax of "Once Upon a Time" really happened. Tarantino previously revealed he wrote a book called "The Films of Rick Dalton," which details his entire fake filmography. He may have figured out where he'll retire after quitting movies: an alternate reality of his own making.

The Video Archives Podcast

2. Nick Jonas went to therapy after 'really tragic guitar solo debacle'

Nick Jonas couldn't help but gently weep after an incident with his guitar. On the "Armchair Expert" podcast, the Jonas brother looked back on a "really tragic guitar solo debacle that happened on live TV," which was such an embarrassing disaster that it "did cause me to go into therapy." It went down while he was performing with Kelsea Ballerini at the 2016 Academy of Country Music Awards. Jonas recalled that although he "rehearsed it a million times," as he walked on stage, he "went completely blank," and after hitting a wrong note, he "blacked out, basically." To this day, he isn't sure what went wrong. "It was a really traumatic moment that shaped the pressure I put on myself to be perfect and to always be on," Jonas reflected. He also described this as one of many times he has bombed, which he views "as core memories." At the time, Jonas admitted he "screwed up" the solo "thanks to a huge brain fart."

Subscribe to The Week

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

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

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

Armchair Expert

3. Florence Pugh 'pissed off' the indie film world by joining the Marvel universe

A girl's gotta eat. Florence Pugh told Time that "so many people in the indie film world were really pissed off at me" for joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Coming off her roles in movies like "Midsommar" and "Little Women," Pugh debuted as Black Widow's sister in 2021's "Black Widow" before reprising the role in the Disney+ series "Hawkeye," and she's set to have a major presence in the franchise going forward. So she told Time that after she got her Marvel role, those who liked her for her non-franchise films "were like, 'Great, now she's gone forever.'" Pugh, though, assured these fans, "No, I'm working as hard as I used to work. I've always done back-to-back movies. It's just people are watching them now." Case in point: Her upcoming projects include an A24 romance that pairs her with Andrew Garfield, so it sounds like she hasn't totally abandoned movies that cost about as much as a Marvel film's catering budget.

Time

4. 'The Last of Us' star Ashley Johnson files restraining order against ex-boyfriend

Ashley Johnson, who played Ellie in the "Last of Us" games and the character's mom in the HBO adaptation, has filed a restraining order against her ex-boyfriend, accusing him of committing "countless" acts of terror against her and her family, The Blast reports. In legal documents, Johnson reportedly alleged that Brian Wayne Foster has a "history of verbal abuse" and a "very unhinged mind." In May, she said she finally broke things off after trying for over two years. But after an argument, Johnson alleged Foster began "carrying about an ammo case and a large black bag," and she found "a strangulation device and two air-soft guns" inside. In April, he "blocked me from Internet, access to all of my devices, including my cameras," and he is now "close to the edge" and "has the ability to murder," Johnson said. She also accused him of attempting to extort $150,000 from her. A judge reportedly ordered Foster to stay 500 yards away from Johnson's home.

The Blast

5. Sam Levinson predicts 'The Idol' will be the 'biggest show of the summer' as critics trash it

The Weeknd declared at the Cannes Film Festival he hoped "The Idol" would "piss some people off," and, well, mission accomplished. The first two episodes of the controversial HBO show, which stars Lily-Rose Depp as a pop star and The Weeknd as a cult leader, have premiered at Cannes, and so far, critics aren't impressed. The Playlist's Robert Daniels described it as "crude, gross, and sexist." In March, a Rolling Stone report suggested the series had devolved into "sexual torture porn," and according to Variety, the episodes include "revenge porn photos of bodily fluids on Depp's face, masturbation with ice cubes," and more. But in a Cannes press conference, co-creator Sam Levinson, who also created "Euphoria," said that after Rolling Stone's article came out, he declared, "I think we're about to have the biggest show of the summer." Look forward to his next HBO series, which will just be a shot of him sitting in front of the camera and saying, "You mad?"

The Week