The daily gossip: Black Panther star Letitia Wright slammed for sharing 'crazy' anti-vax video, Mariah Carey owns a lot of Christmas trees, and more

Black Panther star Letitia Wright slammed for sharing 'crazy' anti-vax video, Mariah Carey owns a lot of Christmas trees, and more

Letitia Wright.
(Image credit: Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)

1. Black Panther star Letitia Wright slammed after tweeting 'crazy' anti-vaccine video

Black Panther star Letitia Wright has taken down a tweet and said her "intention was not to hurt anyone" after coming under fire for posting an anti-vaccine YouTube video. Wright, who's best known for playing T'Challa's sister Shuri in Black Panther, on Thursday tweeted out a video called "COVID-19 VACCINE, SHOULD WE TAKE IT," which "questions the legitimacy of" the vaccination, Variety reports. After being blasted as irresponsible, Wright complained that "you get canceled" if "you don't conform to popular opinions." Author Roxane Gay joined those criticizing Wright, writing, "Promoting anti-vaccine propaganda and shrouding it in intellectual curiosity is asinine. And dangerous." Wright's Marvel co-star Don Cheadle also described the video as "crazy" and said he "would never defend anybody posting this."

2. Mariah Carey has about as many Christmas trees as you'd expect

Mariah Carey might not care about the presents underneath the Christmas tree(s), but she does care deeply about the tree itself. In addition to being the authority on when you can put up your holiday decorations and take them down, the singer revealed to The Wall Street Journal that she has "eight trees in my house" this year. "It's completely over the top," she said. Carey's themed trees have been viral hits in recent years, from her 19-foot gold and white tree, to a smaller family-themed tree, to a tree decorated with roses. But it's a mistake to think she's only into Christmas: "I love every holiday," she said. "Not every holiday — I'm not living for Groundhog Day — but I'm just saying I'm a very festive person."

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The Wall Street Journal

3. Daveed Diggs releases a new song called 'Puppy for Hanukkah'

No one is going to have any trouble shopping for Hamilton star Daveed Diggs this year! On Friday, Diggs — who went to Hebrew school, and whose mother is Jewish — released a new song, called "Puppy for Hanukkah," with his Clipping bandmates for the Disney Channel. "[A]ccompanied by a clarinet, tsimbl, and percussion, Diggs takes us through all eight nights of anticipating a puppy, with the chorus of: 'You know what I wanta / I want a puppy for Hanukkah,'" Alma explains. Diggs added that he was "honored … to come up with a fresh Hanukkah tune" and share "a little piece of my culture." It's all as delightful as it sounds, and you can get it stuck in your head by clicking here.

Alma Stereogum

4. Miley Cyrus: 'I f--king am Hannah Montana'

Miley Cyrus has come a long (a looooooong) way from her days as a teenage star on Disney's Hannah Montana, but speaking to Rolling Stone for the magazine's January cover story, she described being awed by the show's influence on "young queer kids" today. As she explained, "That's how Lil Nas X actually knew of my dad [Billy Ray Cyrus]. He grew up watching Hannah Montana and said, 'I want to do a song with Robby Ray.'" She continued, "When my peers are having these experiences and accepting themselves because of something that I demonstrated while they were a kid, that's when I go, 'S--t, I f--king am Hannah Montana.'"

Rolling Stone

5. Oscar Isaac reportedly cast as Solid Snake in Metal Gear Solid film

It looks like Oscar Isaac's wish was Sony's command. Isaac is set to star as Solid Snake in the studio's upcoming film adaptation of the video game Metal Gear Solid from director Jordan Vogt-Roberts. If something about the idea of Isaac starring as Solid Snake seems a bit familiar, it might be because the actor last year made it known that he was interested in the gig: "I'm throwing my hat in for that one," Isaac had said. Asked who he'd specifically like to play in the movie, he clarified he, naturally, had the lead role of Solid Snake in mind. All in all, when it comes to the Metal Gear Solid casting, we'd say Vogt-Roberts certainly made a solid choice.

The Hollywood Reporter The Week

Jeva Lange

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.