The daily gossip: Johnny Depp breaks with the Fantastic Beasts franchise, 'Destiel is canon,' and more

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1. Johnny Depp is out of the Fantastic Beasts franchise
2. 'Destiel is canon' trends in 2020, somehow
3. Leslie Jones just discovered the joy of watching MSNBC's Steve Kornacki
4. Henry Golding is a dad-to-be
5. John Legend records moving cover of 'Georgia on My Mind' as Biden pulls ahead in the state

published 6 November 2020

1. Johnny Depp is out of the Fantastic Beasts franchise

Yer fired, Johnny. Johnny Depp revealed in an Instagram post on Friday that "I have been asked to resign by Warner Bros. from my role as Grindelwald" in the Fantastic Beasts film series and that he has "agreed to that request." Warner Bros. confirmed the news, saying the third entry in the Harry Potter spin-off franchise is now in production and Depp's Grindelwald "will be recast." Depp's casting had drawn criticism in light of the domestic abuse allegations leveled against him by his ex-wife, Amber Heard, which he has denied. Even with Depp gone, though, given the firestorm over anti-trans remarks by J.K. Rowling, don't expect Fantastic Beasts-related controversies to be over anytime soon.

Forget the election, Destiel is canon! Well, kind of. Supernatural is in its 15th and final season, and the antepenultimate episode that aired on Thursday night had a major reveal for fans who've long believed that actor Misha Collins' character Castiel is in love with Dean (Jensen Ackles). In Thursday's episode, Castiel must sacrifice himself to save Dean's life. In order to do so, Castiel takes advantage of the deal he'd made with the Empty: that he could live until the moment he's truly happy. Cas professes to Dean, "You changed me, Dean … I love you," before getting swallowed by the Empty. But while some fans loved the emotional conclusion, with "Destiel is canon" jubilantly trending on Twitter, others accused the writers of queerbaiting.

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Leslie Jones has just discovered Steve Kornacki, and it's pretty glorious. In the wee morning hours of Friday, the SNL alum shared a video of her TV, which was tuned to MSNBC, where she was watching Kornacki analyze election returns for the network. "I like this guy," Jones said. "This is how I like my reporters: disheveled and concerned." Jones admired that Kornacki was unpretentious — "he ain't even got no jacket on, he don't give a f--k about his tie" — and that "all he give a f--k is, I'm gonna tell you these numbers." Jones is, alas, a little late in discovering the joy of watching Kornacki, who Vulture has already dubbed "the only cute thing about the election."

"Dad" already looks great on Henry Golding. The 33-year-old Crazy Rich Asians star shared Thursday that he and his wife, yoga instructor Liv Lo Golding, are expecting their first child together. "2021 is already looking brighter," Golding wrote, while Lo Golding added: "Such immense joy this little one has brought us already. Now we get to share it with you. We love you." The Goldings met in 2011, and got married in 2016; Henry recently moved to Los Angeles after having lived in Malaysia and London. "Never in my wildest dreams did I think we'd be able to spend every day together and in the midst of it move to L.A.," Lo Golding previously wrote. "Celebrating the little wins in life like settling into our dream home."

John Legend was having feelings around 4:30 a.m. on Friday morning, when former Vice President Joe Biden officially passed President Trump in the vote count to pull ahead in the state of Georgia. With no additional commentary, Legend recorded himself singing the entirety of the 1930 Hoagy Carmichael song "Georgia on My Mind." After he finished singing, Legend simply said: "I love you, Georgia." Legend's wife, Chrissy Teigen, joked that Legend had been sitting on the video in anticipation of Biden pulling ahead: "He has been waiting to post this for 5 hours," she tweeted. As of Friday morning, more than 3.2 million fans had watched the cover — though numbers weren't available for how many of them bawled their eyes out while doing it.

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.