Who Was Killed (And Who Could the Killer Be) After ‘The White Lotus’ Season 3 Premiere?

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Belinda Could Be the Too-Obvious Victim in ‘The White Lotus’

The Ratliff Family Is Not as Picture Perfect as They Seem

There’s Tension With the Female Friends on a Ladies Retreat

The Other ‘White Lotus’ Couples Are in Precarious Positions

The Resort Employees in ‘The White Lotus’ Could Have Drama, Too

The White Lotus’ third season switches the setting to Thailand as a new group of entitled guests visit the lavish resort. This time, it’s a wellness center with the goal of helping its guests disconnect from the daily stressors in their lives, reconnect with their inner selves, family, or other companions, and experience a sense of calm.

However, as is typical of the show, the guests are far from ready to relax. They all have their own secrets and hang-ups, and, of course, someone winds up dead. While viewers won’t find out who until the end, that hasn’t stopped fans from theorizing about who died and who the killer could be. There’s a case that can be made for just about everyone. With multiple gunshots heard ringing, it could even be more than one person this time around.

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The White Lotus

TV-MA

Comedy

Drama

Mystery

Release Date 2021 – 2024

Network HBO

Showrunner Mike White

Directors Mike White

Writers Mike White

Cast

See All

Jennifer Coolidge

Tanya McQuoid

Jon Gries

Greg Hunt

F. Murray Abraham

Bert Di Grasso

Jolene Purdy

Lani

Creator(s) Mike White

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Belinda Could Be the Too-Obvious Victim in ‘The White Lotus’

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Belinda (Natasha Rothwell) is one of two returning characters from prior seasons, and the beginning sets it up to suggest that she could be the victim. Arriving at the resort to supposedly learn from this top venue and bring back ideas for Maui, the season begins with her son Zion (Nicholas Duvernay) enjoying a meditation session. But when he hears gunshots ring out, panic sets in.

As he ducks for cover and tries to figure out what’s going on, he’s terrified because he knows his mother is on the other side of the resort where the shooting is occurring. He tries to get closer to ensure she’s OK when he notices a body floating in the water. The identity of the body is hidden, and his reaction is shock and dismay.

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Some fans believe he’s so horrified because it’s his mother. But his natural inclination to swim away from the body suggests maybe it isn’t her. If it was his mother, after all, he might be more inclined to go to her versus away. Even knowing the body is of someone who is already dead, a son seeing his mother floating may try to do whatever he can to help, even embrace her, despite knowing she’s already gone. This has led some fans to suspect that maybe the body isn’t hers.

Nonetheless, the reveal of Greg (Jon Gries) on the resort with a new younger girlfriend suggests that he’s up to no good again, and he’s one person with previous ties to Belinda. He may try to get rid of Belinda for fear of what she might know about his relationship with Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge) and her tragic Season 2 death. However, it’s unclear if Belinda is even aware of Greg’s involvement or even of Tanya’s death at all. She wasn’t seen in Season 2, which took place at another White Lotus resort in Italy. But given her naturally intuitive nature, Belinda may suspect foul play once/if learning of Tanya’s death, which could make her Greg’s next target.

The Ratliff Family Is Not as Picture Perfect as They Seem

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The Ratliff family is at the center of the new cast of rich jerks this season, each with their own demons. Patriarch Timothy (Jason Isaacs) is clearly hiding something, sought out by the media that has questions about his business dealings. The previews show that he might be in trouble in future episodes. His wife Victoria (Parker Posey), meanwhile, seems oblivious to anything nefarious he might be doing, just happy to immerse herself in her seemingly picture-perfect life, putting on rose-colored glasses to anything that suggests otherwise. But this is largely because she is heavily medicated most of the time. It’s possible someone takes her out while trying to get to Timothy. There’s also growing tension between Timothy and Rick, who got into an altercation on the boat. The two will likely continue to run into one another and the conversations could get more heated.

Their three children, meanwhile, each have their own issues. Son Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger) is a womanizing, arrogant young man who works for his father. He’s merely out to have a good time and wants to take his young, innocent, impressionable younger brother Lochlan (Sam Nivola) with him. It’s possible the troubles Timothy faces have something to do with Saxon, which could mean someone in the family is at the center of the shooting.

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Further, there appears to be tension between Saxon and his sister, Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook), the catalyst for the family traveling to Thailand. A Buddhist convert, she has a deep interest in spirituality and is keen on interviewing a monk for her thesis paper. Her close relationship with Lochlan appears to be a thorn in Saxon’s side. The relationship among all three siblings seems strange, with odd undertones that could suggest there’s more than meets the eye. That could make any (or all) of them victims or perpetrators.

There’s Tension With the Female Friends on a Ladies Retreat

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Also enjoying the resort are three ladies looking for some “girl time” and R&R. They are led by Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan), a famous TV personality who brought along her two childhood friends, Kate (Leslie Bibb) and Laurie (Carrie Coon). It’s evident that there’s a particular closeness between Jaclyn and Kate as they openly share a mutual love for one another and gush about all the successes in each other’s lives.

Laurie, however, is like a third wheel, visibly feeling left out of the love fest. Her boring corporate life is no match for their exciting socialite lives in the limelight, and Laurie clearly resents them and their bond for that. When she excuses herself from a late-night drink only to stare longingly at her friends chatting away happily as she lets out a good cry, this confirms that there’s more bubbling beneath the surface.

Could Laurie have snapped and shot up the resort, angry about the state of her life and her insecurities about the unbalanced friendship? It’s obvious that she doesn’t feel seen; the ladies’ attempts to include her in conversations or praise are clearly forced and disingenuous. Such a drastic reaction seems far-fetched, but it’s an option worth exploring.

The Other ‘White Lotus’ Couples Are in Precarious Positions

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As in previous seasons, there are couples in peril at the resort as well. Both Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood) and Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon) are there with their respective older boyfriends and strike up a conversation at the bar when both are shunned by their men. Rick (Walton Goggins) seems to have Chelsea along for the ride as nothing more than a companion. But he’s distracted by other interests at the resort.

In particular, he seems obsessed with the owner’s American husband, disappointed when he learns that the man is ill and left the resort to go back to Bangkok after receiving treatment. There’s a history between them, and he came to Thailand to settle some type of score. This could end in a bloody fight, though it’s unclear who Rick is, where he gets his money, and why he is on the warpath.

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Chloe, meanwhile, is a model who lives near the resort but often visits for dinner and drinks. When the camera cuts to her much older boyfriend, who she declares is a “bald white guy” that people in Thailand call “LOAs,” or “Losers At Home,” it seems she has ulterior motives for being with him. But fans who know Greg from previous seasons know that he’s the one who likely has ulterior motives, and murder is not out of the question. It’s possible he is the killer or at least had something to do with what happened.

The Resort Employees in ‘The White Lotus’ Could Have Drama, Too

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Another possibility is that the victim (and/or murderer) is one of the resort employees. Mook (Lalisa Manobal) is one of the first people fans meet, a lovely health mentor who is friendly with Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong), a security guard at the resort. He wants something more, but she only sees him as a friend. He’s jealous when she gets chatty with the big, burly bodyguards of the resort owner Srilata (Lee Patravadi) and giddily talks about how nice they are and how they get to travel the world. He could potentially get into an altercation with these men over Mook, which results in someone ending up dead.

Sritala herself could be the victim, especially since she is clearly in Rick’s crosshairs. While his issues don’t appear to be with her but rather her husband, whatever upset him could blow back on her. As a once famous actor and singer, the fact that she has bodyguards in the first place suggests that there are people who might want to harm her or at least approach her with bad intentions. Her husband could also have returned and become a target for Rick, or someone else.

Fabian (Christian Friedel) is the unassuming general manager who takes his job very seriously. He nitpicks at little things to ensure that his guests are having a good time. He also appears to get frustrated with Sritala and her apparent diva-like behavior at times. But he also desperately seeks her approval. As Season 1 of The White Lotus proved, it could very well be an employee who becomes the killer, the victim, or both.

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Valentin (Arnas Federavičius) is the most popular health mentor at the resort, who Sritala assigns to care for the three women, partly because she is a fan of Jaclyn and her work and may see a kinship with her since they are both actors. She makes a point to note that he’s from Russia and that “everyone requests him because he’s handsome.” It’s possible he could come between the three women, though Jaclyn and Kate are seemingly both happily married. He may have secrets of his own that are revealed as the show progresses.

Finally, there’s Pornchai (Dom Hetrakul), the wellness expert who was to train Belinda for the next three months to get her up to speed on how the wellness center operates and about Thai and Buddhist culture. He seems kind and eager to help arm her with the knowledge she needs. Could he be an accidental victim as Greg tries to take care of Belinda to prevent her from revealing where he is to others or digging deeper into what happened to Tanya?

The White Lotus is known for its twists and turns, keeping fans guessing through the entire season and dropping lots of red herrings and misdirects. After episode one, the victim and murderer remain question marks. It could be anyone for any reason. As the truths unfold through the rest of the season, fans can’t wait to find out if their guesses and theories were correct, or the show has once again gone in a direction no one saw coming. Stream The White Lotus on Max.

SNL and Tom Hanks blasted for portraying racist MAGA Trump supporter

Tom Hanks has been blasted for portraying a Trump supporter as a dimwitted racist during Saturday Night Live’s 50th anniversary celebration.

The Hollywood legend made a return as Doug, a clueless rube wearing a Make America Great Again hat who happens to perform well on a mock game show called Black Jeopardy.

Hanks first appeared as Doug on Black Jeopardy! in 2016. But as MAGA fans pointed out President Trump has since won over a diverse electorate and secured the popular vote.

In the updated version of the sketch, Doug vehemently refused to shake hands from host Darnell Hayes played by Kenan Thompson.

Many on social media blasted SNL and Hanks for what they viewed as both unfair and outdated stereotypes.

Former Robert F. Kennedy Jr. aide Link Lauren called the backlash against Trump supporters ‘disgusting’ and accused SNL of pushing a tired, divisive narrative.

‘This show wonders why their ratings are in the gutter,’ he wrote. ‘Trump won the popular vote. This tired trope that MAGA is racist is disgusting. SNL is an unfunny show for snobbish liberal elites.’

Tom Hanks appeared as a MAGA Republican wearing a signature red baseball cap

In one of the early sketches that purported to be a black version of the game show Jeopardy! Tom Hanks dressed up as a racist Trump supporter, appearing as the only white contestant

In a random and divisive move and while wearing a MAGA hat, Hanks portrayed an ignorant racist who refused to shake hands with the African-American host

His sentiments were echoed by other Trump supporters who flooded social media with criticism of the sketch.

Right-wing influencer Dominick McGee took direct aim at Hanks, accusing him of ‘just disrespecting every Republican on SNL as he was dressed up as a Trump supporter with a MAGA hat.’

Another critic pointed out what they saw as an awkward silence during the sketch, writing, ‘No one in the audience laughs as Tom Hanks appears on SNL as a racist Trump supporter that refuses to shake hands with a Black man.’

Trump supporters also used the moment to highlight what they claim is SNL’s declining viewership.

One Trump fan account wrote, ‘Tom Hanks and SNL thought it would be hilarious for him to put on a MAGA hat and act out a stereotype of half the country in a desperate attempt to cope with Democrats’ crushing defeat in November. Not surprising no one watches SNL or NBC anymore.’

During the rest of the three-and-a-half hour broadcast – featuring everyone from Cher to Bad Bunny, Adam Sandler to Scarlett Johansson – the star-studded cast could not help but take cheap shots at Trump.

In one sketch, featuring a song based on Broadway musicals poking fun about how New York City has changed over the years, the cast performed a parody of famous show tune I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables.

‘I dreamed a dream that King Kong died, then I remembered he’s in Florida,’ sung one cast member, in a thinly veiled swipe at the president who left Manhattan after his first term.

Many on social media were deeply unimpressed with Hanks’ portrayal of a racist Trump supporter

But the special celebrating 50 years on air poked fun at the Trump administration from the very start.

It took mere seconds before actor and comedian Steve Martin, 79, made his first political jab joking about how he had been in a boat in ‘The Gulf of Steve Martin’ – a quip about Trump’s recent renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.

‘I can’t believe I made it here in time. It was only a few days ago that Lorne told me I was doing the monologue, and I was actually vacationing on a friend’s boat down in the Gulf of Steve Martin,’ Martin began.

Later in the monolog Martin’s fellow Only Murders In The Building Canadian co-star Martin Short, 74, walked onstage.

Martin asked him, ‘Do you have your passport on you? ICE, get him!’ as actors dressed as ICE employees hauled Short off the stage.

‘No! I’ll name names! Mike Myers! Jim Carrey!’, Short yelled as he was carted away.

In one of the early sketches that purported to be a black version of the game show Jeopardy! Tom Hanks dressed up as a Trump supporter, appearing as the only white contestant.

It took mere seconds before actor and comedian Steve Martin, 79, made his first political jab joking about how he had been in a boat in ‘The Gulf of Steve Martin’

Later, actors dressed as ICE employees hauled Martin Short,74, off stage for being Canadian

In a random and divisive move and while wearing a MAGA hat, Hanks portrayed an ignorant racist who refused to shake hands with the African-American host.

Later during the famous Weekend Update segment, anchor Colin Jost joked how it could be the final season of SNL if Trump has his way.

‘It is an honor and a thrill to be hosting Weekend Update for the 50th, and if it was up to our president, final season of SNL,’ Jost said to laughter from the audience.

‘It is incredible that SNL is still going after all this time and I’m just talking about tonight’s show.’

In the past, Trump has been particularly critical of the comedy show and has long slammed SNL. He has shown hostility toward mockery in general and is known to hardly ever laugh.

‘SNL is bad but Saturday Night Live is the worst of NBC. Not funny, cast is terrible, always a complete hit job. Really bad television!’ Trump wrote in January 2017.

Cecily Strong appeared as her character ‘Girl you never want to talk to at a party’ where she appeared to draw attention to the current political climate

Strong as her character said she wanted to keep her baby unborn until Trump was out of office

In 2019 he threatened the show with a federal investigation for mocking him after he took a dislike to Alec Baldwin’s interpretation of him.

Last year, SNL creator Lorne Michaels promised the show would ‘reinvent’ the way it depicts Trump during his second term in office.

During Weekend Update Cecily Strong appeared as her character ‘Girl you never want to talk to at a party’ where she appeared to draw attention to the current political climate.

‘Is it nice to be on the verge of the apocalypse. It’s devastating. It’s a constipational crisis, literally for me. Do I want to bring a baby into the world or should I keep her in here for another 3½ years.’

Co-host Michael Che asked Strong where she works.

‘I’m the press secretary at the White House,’ Strong replied. ‘People are so angry about DEI, well, stop drinking and driving,’ she joked as she jokingly confused the terms DUI with DEI.

DUI stands for Driving Under the Influence referring to the criminal offense of operating a vehicle while impaired by drugs or alcohol or drugs.

Two hours into the show, the SNL special took a swipe at the politics of New York mocking former Mayor Rudy Giuliani

DEI, of course, stands for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Trump followed through with a campaign promise, signing an executive order last month to eliminate DEI programs across the federal government.

Trump and his allies argue the programs discriminate against white Americans.

Two hours into the show, the SNL special took a swipe at the politics of New York mocking former Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

‘Rudy, you’re America’s mayor. You’re beloved all across the country, this is your big shot. What are you going to do with it?’

‘Simple. I am throwing away my shots. I am throwing my shots!’ he said, to a rap from the Hamilton musical.

The ‘White Lotus’ Season 3 Premiere Recap: Monkey Business

Imagine me smiling broadly on a beach, saying sawatdee khrap, and waving as I welcome you to the first of our weekly White Lotus recaps. Season 3 of the HBO almost-anthology show contains an expanded eight episodes and promises to be not only longer but both “bigger” and “crazier.” So accept your malai, pick your villa, and get unpacked — but don’t opt for the digital detox, take a nap, or pop a lorazepam until after you’re finished reading. This time we’re traveling to the Thai island of Koh Samui, site of this season’s White Lotus — the resort chain where no one ever vacations unless they’re dealing with deep-seated, unprocessed problems and where guests and those in their orbit tend to have a high mortality rate.

Aside from the opening scene, the strike-delayed third season starts slowly. But it’s good to be back in creator/writer/director/showrunner Mike White’s world, with another stacked cast assigned to this season’s entitled, dysfunctional families and frenemies. The writing is still astute, the scenery is still luscious, and the tone still fluctuates between funny and foreboding. Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge) is gone, but the show must go on, even if, inevitably, the setup is starting to feel formulaic: three main groups of guests, a new locale, and the reveal of a death (or deaths), followed by a rewind to one week earlier. Speaking of which, let’s proceed to the first section — and the first scene.

“It’s such a trope at this point,” White said of his series’ murder-mystery framing in 2021. “All of these limited series where there’s a dead body at the beginning. I was like, ‘You want your dead body? Here’s your dead body.’”

Yes, The White Lotus’s corpses are what Severance’s Ricken would call a “Trojan’s horse”: a means of sneaking the series onto more screens on Sunday nights than a sophisticated interpersonal drama without a clear hook might manage otherwise. And sure, focusing on whodunit, and who had it done to them, might make one miss the forest for the palm trees. But without the elevated body count — both kinds — perhaps The White Lotus would have been another well-reviewed, little-watched, and short-lived White creation, like Enlightened before it. (Enlightened lasted for two seasons; White Lotus has already been renewed for a fourth.) So if corpses are the cost of keeping the show on the air and in the zeitgeist, then bring on the stiffs, I say. (And, thanks to Patrick Schwarzenegger’s Saxon, the stiffies.)

As in Season 2, the dead body we glimpse in the premiere is floating in the water — and, in another commonality, there may well be more than one victim. (Maybe many more.) This time, the cause of death seems strongly implied, though that may be a misdirect: We hear Chekhov’s gunfire but haven’t seen Chekhov’s gun. Whoever the victim is, and however they died, it’s clear that an active shooter has shattered the superficial peace of the world’s leading wellness resort — and that White has upped the ante with the series’ boldest beginning yet. It’s a fitting start to the season’s descent into darkness.

We won’t know until April who was on either end of these establishing shots, but we can contemplate a few candidates. Zion (Nicholas Duvernay) fears for his mom, Belinda (Natasha Rothwell), but after the “rough couple years” Belinda alludes to, a violent end seems too cruel a fate for her, even on a show that isn’t always kind to its characters. (Even if she does slightly jostle an offering on the protective spirits’ shrine.) The most obvious instigator, Rick (Walton Goggins), has a score to settle with the husband of resort owner Sritala (Lek Patravadi), Jim Hollinger (Scott Glenn), whose bodyguards are strapped. Maybe they’re the ones firing (or returning fire). Or maybe Rick, depressed and resentful, took his frustrations out on Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood) in a final attempt to silence her. “You’re like a fuckin’ machine gun,” he tells her while she assures him, “I’m gonna help you get your joy back, even if it kills me.” If that’s foreshadowing, it’s not exactly subtle. Then again, neither were the hints about Tanya’s demise.

Might Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong) sacrifice himself for his princess, Mook (Lalisa Manobal, a.k.a. Lisa from Blackpink), and suffer a watery death two years after saving someone from one? (There’s no love lost between him and the bodyguards.) Could some shady business entanglements come back to bite Timothy (Jason Isaacs)?

Let’s hope the floater is Greg (Jon Gries), who makes a surprise appearance in the premiere, joining Belinda as the lone holdovers so far from previous seasons. In Season 2, Tanya’s husband got away with his scheme to have his wife killed, and he presumably put his inheritance toward a new house in Thailand (and a former-model wife, whom the serial divorcé is already alienating). But maybe his lies and crimes will catch up to him. “The fact that all of those guys die on the boat, it feels like there’s gotta be somebody who’s gonna track it down to Greg,” White said after the Season 2 finale. “But maybe you’ll have to wait to find out what happens.” The wait will likely end soon; perhaps this “Loser Back Home” will lose his life in this season’s finale.

As Rick snaps to Chelsea, “Enough with the questions.” Let’s review what we’ve actually learned about Season 3’s sad sacks, playboys, cougars, and crooks.

“They’re all in some kind of hurt,” White told Time about the White Lotus’s latest guests. “Like, they’re all dead, but they don’t know it.” Sounds ominous, in light of the live fire, but White probably doesn’t mean that all of his new characters have a week to live. (This is The White Lotus, not Rogue One.) If Season 1 was about money and Season 2 was about sex, then Season 3 seems to be about “death and Eastern religion and spirituality.” So White might mean that these folks have forgotten (or failed to figure out) how to live. They’re out of touch with themselves, each other, and what it takes to feel fulfilled. The cell tower looming over the nearby temple’s spire seems like a thinly veiled commentary on misplaced priorities.

The premiere is mostly a dramatis personae that introduces the new arrivals and teases their traumas, so let’s do the same in this section. The Ratliffs are Season 3’s answer to Season 1’s wealthy Mossbachers. The new clan consists of couple Timothy and Victoria (Parker Posey) and their almost-grown-up kids, Saxon (Schwarzenegger), Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook), and Lochlan (Sam Nivola). Tim appears to be a paragon of business and a model (albeit demanding) dad, but he isn’t quite the great guy everyone tells Victoria he is, which won’t be a shocker if you’ve seen Isaacs in, well, almost anything else. (Isaacs was far from heroic even when he was a Starfleet captain.) He’s dodging questions from a Wall Street Journal reporter, Bart Nixon, who wants to know about an associate of Tim’s named Kenneth Nguyen.

Tim seems to have started a fund called Sho-Kel with Nguyen, whom the Journal is investigating because of his alleged ties to the government of Brunei. Tim claims not to have talked to Nguyen for a long time, but the nervous voicemail he leaves Nguyen immediately after hanging up on Nixon doesn’t sound like their first contact in years. Although Tim professes ignorance of any wrongdoing, he looks like a man whose comfortable world is about to be blown up. Even if he doesn’t die this week, his career could, along with his family’s insulation from hardship. “You’re always right,” Saxon says to Tim, but we’ll see how long that idolization lasts. Surely it’s not a concern that the ground around the Ratliffs’ villa is littered with the literal fruit of the poisonous tree.

(The callback number Nixon gives Ratliff doesn’t follow the standard 555 format from most movies and TV shows, so I dialed it, expecting to hear a fake voicemail. Instead, I got the main menu for the Federal Labor Relations Authority, whose chairwoman recently found herself in Donald Trump’s sights. Make of that what you will.)

Victoria is Tim’s devoted, slightly scatterbrained wife, the mint julep to his straight bourbon. She spends much of the episode either naturally or chemically sedated (if not both), so we don’t learn a lot about her as an independent person; her focus is on her family, which makes her the only Ratliff who’s into the digital detox idea. (Sorry, Pam, but I’m with Tim and Saxon on this one; a wellness worker would have to pry my devices out of my cold, dead hands.) Although Victoria comes off as a free spirit, she and Tim seem repressed on a physical level; Tim swears when she gets a second wind before bedtime, and in the boudoir, they chastely hold hands. (She also believes “genitals” is “a bad word.”) “We have it good,” Tim tells Victoria. “No doubt.” Possibly some doubt! (I’m not sure which is more distracting, Isaacs’s slight but inconsistent Southern accent or Posey’s more stable but almost comically pronounced one, which is only slightly less noticeable than Benoit Blanc’s.)

Saxon certainly isn’t sexually inhibited; he works hard, plays hard, and has followed in his father’s professional footsteps. (Which could be bad news for Saxon.) Head half-submerged in the pool, lurking like a predator, he cruises for cougars — or Chelsea, if she’ll have him. (He’s not picky; those long plane rides are a real aphrodisiac.) Piper’s thesis on Buddhism prompted the trip; she looks like Saxon, but there the resemblance ends. Lochlan may not have any homework, but he has choices to make: between ways of life (Saxon’s or Piper’s), between colleges (Duke or UNC), between recreation destinations (temple or pool), between postures (slouching or sitting up straight), between bedrooms (Saxon’s or Piper’s), between bukkake and hot teacher porn.

The junior Ratliffs are more than a little Lannister-like. “Brothers and sisters don’t sleep together after they have full-grown genitals,” Saxon protests (too much?), just before getting handsy with his sister. Saxon seems jealous when Piper suggests that she’ll room with Lochlan and when Lochlan chooses to escort Piper to the temple before joining Saxon at the pool. Later, Saxon and Lochlan pillow-talk about life; Saxon tells his younger brother that their sister is “pretty hot” and frets, “I don’t think she’s ever been laid before.” Then he segues to “So what kind of porn do you like?” before musing aloud about how he’ll jerk off with Lochlan lying a few feet away from him. (No wonder Saxon wasn’t so keen on rooming with Piper … though maybe that depends on how Lannister-like they are.) Folks with siblings: Is it unusual for an older brother to lock eyes with a younger one as the former, hanging dong, browses his iPad in preparation for a pre-announced bathroom masturbation sesh? I’m an only child, so I wouldn’t know.

Lochlan has hardly embarked on his pursuit of “pussy, money, freedom, respect” (in that order, Saxon says). Just judging by how the Duke and UNC sides of the family turned out, I’d tell Lochlan to choose Chapel Hill. (Or, better yet, to attend a different school instead of breaking the tie between the male and female members of his family.) “We’re a normal family,” Victoria tells the Ratliffs’ wellness mentor. “You’ll see.” Will we?

On The White Lotus, normality is relative. Tim and Victoria seem like an ideal love match compared to Rick and Chelsea, an “opposites attract” twosome if ever there was one. (Though there doesn’t seem to be much attraction on Rick’s part.) Rick arranged the trip to get closer to Hollinger, and he’s none too pleased to learn that the man recently left for Bangkok. Nor is he pleased about anything else. Rick, who “barely works,” has what Chelsea understatedly terms “issues,” whereas Rick thinks Chelsea is the “crazy” one. The magnetic Goggins has rarely been so brooding; it’s almost a relief when his cigarette breaks spark confrontations with Tim.

The most intriguing group of guests is the trio of Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan), Kate (Leslie Bibb), and Laurie (Carrie Coon), childhood friends full of simmering resentments. I don’t envy casting director Meredith Tucker’s task of finding actors who could credibly make a character played by Coon feel inadequate, but the statuesque duo of Monaghan and Bibb seem quite capable of embodying unwitting mean girls. The 40-somethings have history dating back to before high school, and Kate and Laurie are still the supporting actors in TV celebrity Jaclyn’s life, as they were when they played the hands and feet behind her head in a long-ago skit that Jaclyn can hardly remember. Laurie, who’s neither as famous nor as wealthy as her friends, is relegated to a room — paid for by Jaclyn — that’s “tucked away” from the other two. She guzzles wine to cope with insecurity. “We’re all lucky,” Jaclyn says, and Kate confirms, “We’re so lucky.” Do they believe that, or are they trying to persuade themselves? And even if they’re sincere, are the three friends all equally lucky?

Amid all of the sniping and backbiting, thank goodness for the grounding provided by Belinda, who hasn’t started her own spa — Tanya’s bad — but is largely living her best life in Thailand, aside from the monitor lizards and unseen snakes in trees. She has three months to relax and learn from her colleagues on this company-sponsored sojourn — “In time, lizards will become your friends,” Pornchai (Dom Hetrakul) promises her — and she’ll soon be joined by her son, whom she happily tells about her sighting of a rarity at her home resort: Black guests. The Thailand-based White Lotus staffers’ stories haven’t coalesced yet: General manager Fabian (Christian Friedel) makes much less of an impression than Season 1’s Armond, and it’s not yet clear where we’re going with Gaitok and his unrequited adoration for Mook, wellness expert Sritala, or, in place of Season 2’s Valentina, Season 3’s hunky Valentin (played by Arnas Fedaravicius from the ever-underrated The Last Kingdom), who channels Claude from Along Came Polly.

Victoria supplies some of the missing Tanya energy (what with her pill popping, anxiety about a biometric test, and request that Piper “scratch [her] arm” because it “feels so good”), though Rick also seems like a blend between Greg and Tanya’s depressive side. Brothers Saxon and Lochlan have sort of a Season 2 Cameron-Ethan dynamic, and on an individual level, Saxon, Lochlan, and Piper also remind me of Season 1’s Shane, Season 2’s Albie, and Season 1’s Quinn, respectively. Maybe White is winking at these parallels. The premiere’s title, “Same Spirits, New Forms,” seems like a meta-commentary on the guests’ recycled archetypes, as does Zion’s comparison of Thailand to Hawaii: “It’s actually really similar. Except there’s no monkeys in Hawaii.”

Despite the guests’ reprehensible behavior and the show’s best efforts to instill a sense of creeping dread, I still find watching The White Lotus a soothing experience. Credit the comic relief, the catchy soundtrack, and the sumptuous, slow-motion cinematography, as White intersperses glimpses of the island’s natural splendor with the underwater photography he’s leaned on since Enlightened. Sure, maybe those angles are meant to convey how close his characters are to drowning, but water can be cleansing, too.

“When we were little, people would always mix us up,” Laurie recalls. “Couldn’t tell us apart.” Then Jaclyn and Kate got tall, glamorous, and rich, and Jaclyn got famous; Laurie says she wouldn’t want the red carpet rolled out for her wherever she goes, but her anguished sob as she gazes from afar at her friends says otherwise. Laurie seemingly lacks “beautiful homes” and “the man of [her] dreams”; Kate’s kids are “gorgeous,” Jaclyn says, whereas Laurie’s daughter “seems like she is turning into a really cool girl.” Maybe Laurie is less “winning life” than fighting it to a draw.

Almost immediately, Laurie feels like a third wheel, as Jaclyn and Kate say the same things in unison, compliment each other’s minor nips and tucks, and echo each other as they affirm how amazing and incredible they look. The other guests’ cultural insensitivities aside, there’s no more memorable microaggression than when Jaclyn tells Kate she looks incredible and then — belatedly including Laurie — unconvincingly concludes, “You both do.”

Ouch. Laurie’s comeback has some bite: “Yeah, but you look like you just got pushed out of a birth canal” could be a compliment, but it sounds like a slam.

“I look at you two, it’s like I’m looking in a mirror,” Laurie pointedly tells her two companions, but she doesn’t really like what she sees. This “victory” tour may be more of a midlife-crisis trip than Laurie would like to let on.

It’s hard to choose just one, but I’ll go with Jaclyn’s backhanded compliment to Laurie in a later scene: “Oh, and Laurie. You just … everything you do is so hard.” I suspect that the three ostensible besties will be the richest sources of fodder for these middle sections in the episodes ahead.

“Let us calm our chattering monkey minds and find in the silence what is timeless,” meditation leader Amrita (Shalini Peiris) tells Zion before the bullets start flying. Good luck with that. Maybe the presence of our primate relatives, the successors to Season 2’s head-shaped vases, is meant to remind us that humans aren’t as highly evolved as we like to think. Saxon, for one, is all id, always at the ready with his hand on his junk. “Just don’t feed them,” Kate cautions Laurie. “Monkeys can be aggressive.” So can guests at luxury resorts. As Saxon says, “Get laid. Get everything.”Until next time: To Thailand. To monkeys. To self-care. Khop khun khrap.

Aubrey Plaza appears on ‘SNL50’ in her first first public appearance since husband Jeff Baena’s death

If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or chat live at 988lifeline.org. You can also visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional support.

Aubrey Plaza made her first public appearance since her husband, director Jeff Baena, died last month. The “Parks and Recreation” star appeared briefly on “SNL50” on Feb. 16 when she introduced a musical performance.

Plaza welcomed Miley Cyrus and Brittany Howard to the “SNL” stage before the duo performed “Nothing Compares 2 U,” which was written by Prince and later recorded by Sinéad O’Connor.

“Ladies and gentlemen, Miley Cyrus and Brittany Howard,” Plaza said, while holding a microphone as she stood in the audience with her back to the stage.

Plaza was wearing a blazer over a tie-dyed shirt. She previously spoke about her late husband’s interest in tie-dying, noting that the style was part of their outfits when they got married.

“Jeff got really into tie-dying during the quarantine, so I decided that Jeff and I were going to wear tie-dye pajamas that he had made for us,” Plaza said on “The Drew Barrymore Show” in 2021. “I made a love altar in the backyard of all of our love objects. It was very witchcore, but it happened.”

Plaza has not been seen in public since Baena died by suicide on Jan. 3.

“This is an unimaginable tragedy. We are deeply grateful to everyone who has offered support,” his family said in a statement following his death. “Please respect our privacy during this time.”

Baena co-wrote the 2004 movie “I Heart Huckabees,” created the 2021 Showtime anthology series “Cinema Toast” and directed the 2020 Netflix film “Horse Girl.”

He and Plaza also collaborated over the years on several projects including “Life After Beth,” “The Little Hours” and “Spin Me Round.”

When Brady Corbet won the Golden Globe Award for best director for “The Brutalist” on Jan. 5, he mentioned Baena and Plaza in his acceptance speech while honoring people he knew who recently died.

“And finally, tonight my heart is with Aubrey Plaza and Jeff’s family. Goodnight,” Corbet said.

Tom Hanks Under Fire For Portrayal Of MAGA Supporter On ‘SNL 50’

Tom Hanks has come under fire for what conservative viewers call a “racist and disgusting” portrayal of a MAGA supporter on Saturday Night Live’s (SNL) 50th-anniversary special.

Hanks caused quite a stir when he brazenly walked out of the comedy show’s 50th-anniversary concert with his wife, Rita Wilson, after host Jimmy Fallon announced that no awards would be given out.

The Hollywood legend also delivered an “in memoriam” semi-tribute to “characters and sketches that have aged horribly” on the show.

Tom Hanks has been slammed by MAGA fans for portraying a Trump supporter as a “racist” during a skit on “Saturday Night Live” 50th anniversary special.

NBC brought back some of its best sketches for the golden jubilee of the comedy show, amongst which was “Black Jeopardy!” featuring Leslie Jones, Tracy Morgan, Eddie Murphy, and Hanks.

The “Forrest Gump” actor reprised his character as Doug, a clueless rube wearing a Make America Great Again hat and an American Eagle shirt, and surprisingly, he performs well on the mock game show.

Hanks first starred as Doug in 2016 when he depicted both the differences and similarities between Trump voters and black culture.

In the new version, Doug refuses to shake hands with Kenan Thompson’s character, Darnell Hayes, before reluctantly agreeing. The scene, intended to be satirical, sparked strong reactions from Trump supporters on social media.

Many MAGA supporters took to social media to share their reaction to Hank’s reprisal as Doug, arguing that the character has become an outdated stereotype as Trump has since won over a diverse electorate and secured the popular vote.

“This show wonders why their ratings are in the gutter,” former Robert F. Kennedy Jr. aide Link Lauren wrote. “Trump won the popular vote. This tired trope that MAGA is racist is disgusting. SNL is an unfunny show for snobbish liberal elites.”

An X user wrote, “SNL’s desperate attempt to smear Trump supporters as racist is tired and pathetic. Maybe if they focused on being funny instead of pushing an agenda, they wouldn’t be tanking in ratings.”

More X users called out Hanks, claiming the actor’s sketch looked forced and “awkward” due to him reusing old material.

Someone wrote, “The hilarious handshake/recoil had already been done in Tom’s first MAGA sketch (which Tom actually improvised), which, unfortunately, made this one feel forced/awkward. Wish they had given Tom new material to set up a different racist reaction, that wasn’t a repeat of the first sketch. Almost felt like Keenan and Tom were set up for failure.”

They added, “Maybe the pressure of ‘SNL50’ made most of the sketches fall a bit flat? Also, I wish they had done a Please Don’t Destroy as well as Jiminy Glick video segments.”

Another user said, “I used to have so much respect for @tomhanks as an actor. Now, I can’t bear to watch any of his movies- even from the 80s. I just cannot accept how he can disrespect half the country. Tom, you should have stayed neutral and just entertained because you established yourself as an entertainer.”

Hanks left many guests puzzled after he and his wife Rita Wilson hilariously stormed out of the “SNL 50” concert on Friday at the iconic Radio City Music Hall.

In a video posted by Deadline, host Jimmy Fallon shared a disclaimer that no awards would be handed out during the night but the PSA seemingly didn’t sit well with the couple.

“Apparently, there’s been some confusion,” Fallon said in the clip. “This is just a concert. We’re not giving out any awards tonight. So I just want to make sure that everyone knows that.”

Just then, the camera panned to Hanks and Wilson as they stood up and began to exit the theater in a brazen manner. Wilson was also seen jokingly shaking her finger towards Fallon as she held hands with her husband.

The talk show host then turned around and tried to call out to them, leaving the live audience in stitches with what appeared to be a planned skit.

“Tom? Rita?” Fallon called out with a puzzled look. “We lost Tom Hanks and Rita. Sorry. It wasn’t their fault.”

In Peacock’s “SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night” docuseries, the “A Man Called Otto” actor reflected on his first hosting gig on SNL and called it “the single most exciting thing that has happened in my career,” per NBC.

Hanks first hosted the show in 1985, during its 11th season, when he was 29. He has since gone on to host the show a whopping 10 times and became a member of the Five-Timers Club in 1990.

He was also the first host to be able to join the writer’s room and said, “The fact that they just put their head down and plowed through it was actually a bit of a life lesson for me.”

“Don’t read the bad reviews because someone out there is just going to hate your guts,” he added. “The cliché of saying it was a dream come true doesn’t do it justice. It’s a fantasy made real.”

Who Killed Gabby Petito And Why? Netflix Docuseries Revisits The Shocking True Crime Case

When 22-year-old aspiring travel vlogger Gabby Petito went missing in 2021, her case dominated news coverage and social media as people searched for answers and hoped for her safe return. Now, her story is the focus of Netflix’s latest American Murder docuseries, American Murder: Gabby Petito, which explores the case in depth with the help of her family and friends.

Released on Feb. 17, the three-part docuseries takes viewers through the years and weeks leading up to her mysterious disappearance. Petito had been sharing what appeared to be a happy journey with her fiancé, Brian Laundrie, on social media as they traveled across the U.S. in a converted camper van.

But after she suddenly stopped posting and her messages to family seemed unusual, her mom filed a missing persons report. Soon after, authorities discovered that Laundrie had quietly returned to his parents’ home in Florida — driving their shared van, but without Petito.

Social media quickly became obsessed with the solving mystery, with millions analyzing every detail of Petito’s online presence in real time as they searched for answers. The docuseries unpacks her story through the voices of her family and friends, along with real text messages, video footage, and excerpts from her personal journals.

Keep reading to uncover what happened to Gabby Petito — and how her fiancé, Brian Laundrie, became the prime suspect in her disappearance and death.

Petito and Laundrie first met at Bayport-Blue Point High School in Bayport, New York, and became friends. After reconnecting post-graduation, they began dating in 2019. Petito later moved to North Port, Florida, to live with Laundrie’s family.

In the Netflix series, Petito’s friend Rose Davis said that she struggled to get along with his family, particularly his mother, Roberta. As Petito made new friends and started working at Taco Bell, Laundrie’s controlling behavior intensified. Davis recalled one night when they planned to go line dancing, Laundrie stole Petito’s wallet and ID to prevent her from going out.

The documentary reveals text messages from Laundrie that highlight his jealousy and manipulative behavior. Despite their altercations, Petito often forgave him and blamed herself. “‘I don’t deserve him. I’m hurting his feelings. I’m a bad person,’” Davis recalled Gabby thinking. In one text message, Petito told Laundrie, “Don’t try to control me because it only makes me mad. I love you so much but it’s the way you speak to me that hurts me most.”

A year after getting engaged, Petito and Laundrie decided to go on a cross-country road trip to visit National Parks. She purchased a 2012 Ford Transit van and remodeled it for their journey. As an aspiring travel blogger, Petito planned to document their adventures under the YouTube channel Nomadic Statik and her Instagram account.

On Aug. 12, 2021, police received a 911 call in Moab, Utah, where the caller said he witnessed a man “slapping” Gabby in a van driving by. Moab pulled over the van and spoke with Laundrie and a very distraught Gabby. A police report later described it as a possible mental health crisis rather than domestic violence, and the pair were separated for the night. Laundrie was taken to a hotel, while Petito stayed in the van. They resumed their trip the next day.

Petito shared her final Instagram post on Aug. 25, which was around the same time she stopped responding to text messages. On Aug. 27, Petito’s mother, Nicole Schmidt, got a strange text from Gabby’s phone which read, “Can you help Stan, I just keep getting his voicemails and missed calls.” Schmidt told investigators that Stan is Petito’s grandfather, but that Gabby doesn’t usually refer to him by his first name, according to a warrant obtained by People.

After not hearing from Petito for several days, her mother filed a missing person report with the Suffolk County Police Department in New York on Sept. 11. Meanwhile, authorities discovered that Laundrie had returned to his parents’ home with Petito’s van, but without her.

Authorities searched Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, where Petito’s phone was last believed to have pinged. Meanwhile, a fellow #vanlife couple reviewed their footage and discovered images of Petito’s van at Spread Creek within the park.

On Sept. 19, 2021, Petito’s remains were discovered in Wyoming’s Bridger-Teton National Forest. A medical examiner ruled her death a homicide by strangulation. Teton County Coroner Brent Blue estimated she had died approximately three to four weeks before her body was found.

After returning home to Florida without Gabby on Sept. 1, 2021, Laundrie refused to cooperate with authorities and then disappeared on Sept. 13, 2021. His parents assisted the FBI and North Port police in searching Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park, according to the family’s attorney, Steven Bertolino.

Laundrie’s remains were eventually discovered in the park on Oct. 20, 2021, along with personal belongings, including a backpack and a notebook. A forensic anthropologist later determined his cause of death to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

In a notebook recovered by the FBI, Laundrie admitted to killing Petito. However, before his confession was discovered, he attempted to create an alibi in the days and weeks following her death.

On Aug. 29, he made numerous phone calls to his parents saying Gabby was “gone” and he needed help. Time.com reported the family called an attorney immediately after the call. Police also discovered that Laundrie hitchhiked two separate times to get from where he placed Petito’s body to get back to the van.

Laundrie also orchestrated a fake conversation between Gabby and himself via text on both of their phones to make it look like they weren’t together. Additionally, he moved $700 from Petito’s account to his own via Zelle with the memo, “Goodbye Brian, I’ll never ask you for anything again,” according to Tudum.

In the confession found in his notebook, Brian claimed that he killed Gabby after she suffered an injury. (Petito’s official cause of death was strangulation, and the manner of death was ruled a homicide.)

“I don’t know the extent of Gabby’s ingerys (sic) only that she was in extreme pain. I ended her life, I thought it was merciful, that it is what she wanted, but I see now all the mistakes I made. I panicked. I was in shock. But from the moment I decided, took away her pain, I knew I couldn’t go on without her,” he wrote, according to CNN.

On the last page of the notebook, Laundrie wrote, “I have killed myself by this creek in the hopes that annimals (sic) may tear me apart. That it may make some of her family happy.”

In November 2022, Petito’s parents, Nichole Schmidt and Joseph Petito, filed a $50 million wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Moab due to the officers’ handling of an August 2021 traffic stop, during which body camera footage showed Gabby crying while speaking to police after they were pulled over in their van.

The complaint alleged that officers overlooked key warning signs of domestic violence, putting Gabby at greater risk. It further claimed that police failed to seriously act on a 911 call from a witness who claimed to have seen Brian striking Gabby outside a market.

In Nov. 2024, Nichole and Joe’s lawsuit was dismissed by a judge, a decision they had anticipated. “We never anticipated that this would be an easy process and look forward to the Utah Supreme Court upholding the Utah Constitution’s original intent to preserve the right to recover for wrongful death claims under these circumstances,” they said in a statement, per the Associated Press.

Gabby’s parents filed an emotional distress lawsuit against Brian’s parents in March 2022. They claimed that the Laundries were aware of Petito’s murder soon after her death and chose not to take any action, other than issuing a statement through their lawyer expressing hope that she would be found.

In February 2024, both families reached a settlement a few months before the scheduled trial. Gabby’s family attorney released a statement to WFLA on their behalf, saying, “Our hope is to close this chapter of our lives to allow us to move on and continue to honor the legacy of our beautiful daughter, Gabby.”

To keep Gabby’s memory alive, her parents established The Gabby Petito Foundation, a nonprofit designed “to address the needs of organizations that support locating missing persons and to provide aid to organizations that assist victims of domestic violence situations, through education, awareness, and prevention strategies,” according to its website.

American Murder: Gabby Petito is now streaming on Netflix. Watch the official trailer below.

Netflix docuseries ‘American Murder: Gabby Petito’ explores her story

A Netflix documentary series visits the disappearance and death of the travel vlogger, whom officials say was killed by her fiancé during a cross-country trip.

This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.

The disappearance and death of vlogger Gabby Petito is the subject of a new Netflix documentary examining the 2021 tragedy that put a spotlight on domestic violence, social media and missing persons cases.

In the three-part documentary series “American Murder: Gabby Petito,” which begins streaming Feb. 17, Petito’s family and friends share her story using text messages, videos and excerpts from the 22-year-old’s personal journals, according to Netflix. One of the documentary’s directors, Julia Willoughby Nason, told TODAY.com in an interview about the series that her team reached out to the Laundries.

“They didn’t want to participate,” she explained, “and we respect that. This is a very difficult story.”

Petito’s sunny #vanlife Instagram posts from her cross-country travels in a Ford Transit van with fiancé Brian Laundrie were contrasted by a stormy off-camera relationship between the couple.

Petito’s disappearance during their trip in August 2021 made national headlines and led to a widespread search that ended when her body was found in a national forest in Wyoming.

Here’s what to know about the story.

Born in 1999, the New York native became a vlogger documenting road trips across the western part of the country. In 2020, she called driving cross-country to Oregon and California “an absolute dream” in an Instagram post.

“She wanted to cross the country in the camper van and live the van life and live free. This was her dream,” her mother, Nichole Schmidt, told NBC affiliate KSL in 2021.

In May 2020, she shared her wish on Instagram to get back to traveling the world with Laundrie. The two left her hometown of Blue Point, New York, in July 2021 to embark on a cross-country trip, according to her Instagram posts and comments her mother shared with KSL.

Petito and Laundrie chronicled their journey on a YouTube channel they created called Nomadic Statik. They wrote in the description of a video posted on their channel Aug. 19, 2021, that they had previously traveled across the country together in a Nissan Sentra, but were making the journey this time in a white 2012 Ford Transit van.

Laundrie first met Petito at Bayport-Blue Point High School in Bayport, New York, Petito’s stepfather told The New York Times in 2021. Petito marked her first anniversary with Laundrie in a March 2020 Instagram post.

In another Instagram post Petito shared a few months later in July, she announced she and Laundrie were engaged. Petito moved from New York to live with Laundrie in Florida, Petito’s stepfather previously told The New York Times.

Laundrie and Petito were on their cross-country road trip together in the Ford Transit van when she was reported missing. “The circumstances are odd,” police said in a statement in September 2021 after recovering the van in North Port, Florida, NBC News reported.

Instagram posts by Petito documented them visiting Monument Rocks in Kansas and Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah in July 2021.

Petito’s family reported her missing to the Suffolk County Police Department on Sept. 11, 2021, KSL reported at the time.

Around Aug. 24, 2021, Petito and Laundrie left Salt Lake City for Grand Teton National Park, and this was also the last time Schmidt spoke to her daughter on FaceTime, her parents told KSL.

Schmidt said she received the last text from her daughter Aug. 30, 2021.

“I don’t know, again, if that was her texting me or not,” Schmidt said to KSL.

Petito’s last post on Instagram was shared Aug. 25, 2021, and no location was specified.

Police responded to a physical altercation between Petito and Laundrie on Aug. 12, 2021, according to a report by the Moab City Police Department that was released Sept. 15, 2021, NBC News reported at the time. The couple and a witness spoke to an officer responding to the domestic violence call near a grocery store in Moab, Utah, police said.

In September 2021, Utah’s Grand County Sheriff’s Office “released 911 audio from a witness who said he saw a man slap a female and then saw a white Ford Transit van bearing a Florida license plate drive away,” NBC News reported, adding that “the 911 call led Moab police to stop the van.”

A second officer wrote that the couple’s van swerved and hit a curb before stopping after the officer turned on the police lights to pull them over, according to the police report obtained by NBC News.

The report also stated the responding officer wrote that Petito slapped Laundrie after an argument, NBC News reported.

“The male tried to create distance by telling Gabbie to take a walk to calm down, she didn’t want to be separated from the male, and began slapping him,” the responding officer wrote in the report, according to NBC News. “He grabbed her face and pushed her back as she pressed upon him and the van.”

The couple then asked for no charges to be filed, according to the report obtained by NBC News.

“No one reported that the male struck the female, both the male and the female reported they are in love and engaged and to be married and desperately didn’t wish to see anyone charged with a crime,” according to the report NBC News obtained. “There were no significant injures reported and both agreed that Gabbie suffers from serious anxiety.”

The four or five months that Petito and Laundrie spent traveling together had sparked tension, the police report said.

“The time spent created emotional strain between them and increased the number of arguments,” the report said, according to NBC News.

In lieu of police making a case against Petito for domestic assault, the couple separated for a night, the report said, NBC News reported. Petito was given the van, while Laundrie was taken to a hotel, police said in the report, according to NBC News. No charges were filed.

An independent review released in January 2022 that was conducted by Capt. Brandon Ratcliffe of Utah’s Price City Police Department found that the officers who responded in Moab misclassified the incident and lacked details, NBC News reported.

An officer for the Moab police wrote in the report that the incident was “more accurately categorized as a mental/emotional health ‘break’ than a domestic assault.” However, the independent review states that “officers failed to cite Ms. Petito for domestic violence.”

Police did not get a statement from the 911 caller who reported “the gentleman slapping the girl,” the independent report said.

The city of Moab said in a statement that the officers “made several unintentional mistakes” and that it intended to follow the report’s recommendations, which included improved trainings and reviews of overall policy and software.

The police report of the incident was made public weeks after Petito had last been seen and days after Petito’s mother reported her missing.

Police then released bodycam footage on Sept. 16, 2021, that showed Laundrie and Petito talking to an officer after getting pulled over in Moab, NBC News reported after obtaining the footage. Petito could be seen wiping away tears.

“We’ve just been fighting this morning,” Petito said to the officer. “Some personal issues.”

“It was a long day. We were camping yesterday,” Laundrie said.

In August 2022, Petito’s family announced a wrongful death lawsuit against police in Moab seeking $50 million in damages, NBC News reported. The family’s lawyers said the Moab police weren’t properly trained to detect signs of domestic abuse or they would have known “Gabby was a victim of intimate partner violence” and needed “immediate protection,” NBC News reported. At the time, the Moab City Police Department did not immediately respond to NBC’s request for comment, and a Moab representative said it does not comment on pending litigation, according to NBC News.

The lawsuit was dismissed by a Utah judge in November 2024, according to The Associated Press.

A body that was later determined to be Petito was found in the Spread Creek Dispersed Camping Area in Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming on Sept. 19, 2021, NBC News confirmed with authorities at the time.

A Wyoming coroner ruled her death to be a homicide by strangulation, according to his comments in a video shared by NBC affiliate WNBC in October 2021.

Police said Laundrie returned to North Port, Florida, on Sept. 1, 2021, without Petito, NBC News reported that same month. The van the two had been driving across the country was recovered at Petito’s Florida home and processed for evidence with help from the FBI, the North Port Police Department said in a statement, according to NBC News.

On Sept. 15, 2021, North Port, Florida, police confirmed Laundrie was a person of interest after Petito’s family reported her missing, according to NBC News. Laundrie’s family attorney acknowledged Laundrie had been named as a person of interest by police in a statement obtained by NBC News and that Laundrie would “continue to remain silent on the advice of counsel.”

Laundrie’s family attorney then told NBC affiliate WFLA via text message that the Laundries believed their son left home Sept. 13 to go hiking, after previously telling police he left home Sept. 14 when they reported him missing.

Authorities repeatedly searched the 25,000-acre Carlton Reserve near Sarasota, Florida, trying to find Laundrie, according to the North Port Police Department, NBC News reported.

Human remains were found in the Carlton Reserve along with a backpack and notebook belonging to Laundrie, an FBI official told reporters Oct. 20, 2021, according to NBC News. A day later, the FBI confirmed the remains were Laundrie’s after a review of dental records, WNBC reported.

Laundrie died by suicide from a gunshot wound to the head, an attorney for Laundrie’s family said in November 2021, according to NBC News.

He also left behind writings showing his “responsibility” for Petito’s death, the FBI announced in January 2022, NBC News reported.

“A review of the notebook revealed written statements by Mr. Laundrie claiming responsibility for Ms. Petito’s death,” an FBI statement said, according to NBC News.

Petito’s family filed a civil lawsuit against Laundrie’s parents in March 2022 that accused Christopher and Roberta Laundrie of interfering with the search for their murdered daughter, according to the lawsuit, which NBC News reported on at the time.

Attorneys for the family argued that Laundrie’s parents issued a statement on Sept. 14, 2021, supporting a search for Petito “with full knowledge that Gabrielle Petito had been murdered by their son,” the complaint said, according to NBC News.

Laundrie’s parents “knew of the mental suffering and anguish” Petito’s family was experiencing but refused to disclose information about her whereabouts. In doing so, they allegedly “acted with malice or great indifference,” the lawsuit said, NBC News reported.

The lawyer for the Laundries denied the allegations in the lawsuit filed in Florida’s Sarasota County, which sought at least $30,000 in damages, according to NBC News.

Petito’s parents, Laundrie’s parents, and attorney Steven Bertolino, who represented the Laundrie family, reached a “confidential resolution” in the case in February 2024 to which “all parties reluctantly agreed in order to avoid further legal expenses and prolonged personal conflict,” according to a joint statement by Petito’s parents that was shared with NBC News.

Petito’s family also filed a separate wrongful death lawsuit in Florida against the estate of Brian Laundrie. The lawsuit was resolved when the judge ruled for Petito’s mother, the administrator of her daughter’s estate, to receive $3 million in November 2022, according to court documents obtained by NBC News.

“The Petito family lost their daughter, and they were also denied the opportunity to confront her killer. No amount of money is sufficient to compensate the Petito family for the loss of their daughter, Gabby, at the hands of Brian Laundrie,” Patrick Reilly, an attorney for Petito’s family, said in a statement obtained by NBC News.

Reilly said any money from the $3 million settlement would be going to the Gabby Petito Foundation, which supports organizations that help victims of domestic violence and assist in locating missing persons.

The Odyssey first look shows Matt Damon as Odysseus in Christopher Nolan’s epic

Christopher Nolan has his Odysseus.

Universal has revealed the first look of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey. The X post features Matt Damon as Odysseus in a soldier’s uniform.

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The post reads, “Matt Damon is Odysseus. A film by Christopher Nolan, #TheOdysseyMovie is in theaters July 17, 2026.”

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Like many of Nolan’s films, The Odyssey boasts an impressive cast of A-list talent and critically acclaimed actors. Besides Damon, The Odyssey’s ensemble includes Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong’o, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron, Jon Bernthal, Benny Safdie, John Leguizamo, Elliot Page, Himesh Patel, Bill Irwin, Samantha Morton, Jesse Garcia, Will Yun Lee, Rafi Gavron, Shiloh Fernandez, Mia Goth, Corey Hawkins, Nick E. Tarabay, Jimmy Gonzales, and Maurice Compte.

Nolan’s The Odyssey is an adaptation of Homer’s epic poem written around the 8th century BCE. The story follows the Greek champion Odysseus on his return home from the Trojan War. The treacherous journey includes run-ins with iconic Greek mythological figures like centaurs, sirens, and cyclops. The Odyssey is often associated with Homer’s other poem, the Iliad, which depicts the end of the Trojan War.

The Odyssey is Nolan’s first film since 2023’s Oppenheimer, a biographical drama about J. Robert Oppenheimer and his development of the atomic bomb. Oppenheimer grossed over $976 million worldwide and won seven Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director.

The Odyssey will be released in theaters on July 17, 2026. The film will be shot using new IMAX technology.

‘Captain America: Brave New World’ soars toward a $100 million holiday weekend

‘Captain America: Brave New World’ soars toward a $100 million holiday weekend

LINDSEY BAHR

February 16, 2025 at 6:02 PM

1 / 7

Film Review – Captain America: Brave New World

This image released by Disney shows Anthony Mackie in a scene from Marvel Studios’ “Captain America: Brave New World.” (Eli Adé/Marvel Studios-Disney via AP)

ASSOCIATED PRESS

“Captain America: Brave New World” infused some blockbuster cash into the North American box office, bringing in $88.5 million in ticket sales over the weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. The Walt Disney Co. release is by far the biggest opener of 2025 and the company predicts it will hit $100 million domestically and $192.4 globally by the end of Monday’s Presidents’ Day holiday.

It’s Marvel’s first major release since “Deadpool & Wolverine”broke records last summer and re-energized a Marvel fanbase that some worried was weakening after the poor showing for “The Marvels.”

Playing in 4,105 locations in the U.S. and Canada, “Brave New World” is also a major transition for the “Captain America” brand: Anointing Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson as the new Cap, officially taking over from Chris Evans, who played the character for almost a decade. Harrison Ford co-stars as the U.S. President who transforms into the Red Hulk.

But “Brave New World,” directed by Julius Onah, had a bit of a handicap going into the weekend: Poor reviews, though superhero movies can soar without the stamp of approval from critics. The film is currently sitting at 51% “rotten” on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s not the worst in the Marvel Cinematic Universe — “Eternals” has a 47% rating and “Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania” has a 46% — but the latest film is definitely on the very low end of the spectrum.

In his review for The Associated Press, Mark Kennedy wrote that it is, “a highly processed, empty calorie, regret-later candy of a movie.”

Audiences were more generous in their opinions. The “verified audience score” from Rotten Tomatoes was 80% and its CinemaScore was a B-. Exit polls showed that men made up 63% of the opening weekend audience.

The bar for biggest opening of the year wasn’t terribly high: “Dog Man” held the title for two weeks with its $36 million launch.

And “Brave New World’s” showing is the middle range for an MCU film. Not accounting for inflation, it sits between “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “Thor: The Dark World.”

It also cost significantly less than many of the big budget Marvel movies, with a reported production price tag of $180 million, excluding the millions spent on marketing and promotion.

After only one Marvel movie in 2024, “Brave New World” is the first of three major theatrical releases set for 2025. It is to be followed by “Thunderbolts(asterisk)” in May and “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” in July.

“The superhero genre has taken a hit over the past few years, but audiences still have a huge interest in seeing them on the big screen,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore.

Second place at this week’s box office went to “Paddington in Peru,” the third installment in the beloved franchise, which finally opened in North America this weekend. Released by Sony, it earned an estimated $13 million and should hit $16 million by Monday. The StudioCanal film opened in the United Kingdom in early November 2024 and went into the weekend with $104 million from its international run.

Dougal Wilson took over directing duties for Paul King for this film, which also recast Emily Mortimer as Mrs. Brown, originally played by Sally Hawkins. The other main cast, including Ben Whishaw as Paddinton’s voice, remained intact.

Sony and Screen Gems’ slasher “Heart Eyes” landed in third place with $10 million, up 20% from its opening last weekend. Fourth place went to “Dog Man” with $9.7 million.

The Chinese blockbuster “Ne Zha 2” rounded out the top five. It opened on 660 screens in North America and made $7.2 million. Overall, the box office is up 20% from last year.

This weekend also saw the release of a new “Bridget Jones” movie, subtitled “Mad About the Boy,” which went straight to Universal’s streaming service Peacock, forgoing theaters in the U.S. In the U.K. and Ireland it made an estimated $14.9 million, outgrossing “Captain America: Brave New World.” Universal Pictures International reported $32.3 million in grosses from all 70 territories.

Final domestic figures will be released Tuesday. Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:

1. “Captain America: Brave New World,” $88.5 million.

2. “Paddington in Peru,” $13 million.

3. “Heart Eyes,” $10 million.

4. “Dog Man,” $9.7 million.

5. “Ne Zha 2,” $7.2 million.

6. “Love Hurts,” $4.4 million.

7. “Mufasa: The Lion King,” $4.2 million.

8. “One of Them Days,” $3 million.

9. “Companion,” $1.9 million.

10. “Becoming Led Zeppelin,” $1.8 million.

Aubrey Plaza fans detect ‘sweet’ tribute to late husband Jeff Baena

Baena, who was an award-winning filmmaker, died by suicide on 3 January at his home in Los Angeles.

The White Lotus actor appeared at SNL’s 50th anniversary event in New York City on Sunday (16 February) to introduce musical guests Miley Cyrus and Brittany Howard while wearing a black blazer with a tie-dye shirt underneath.

While the actor kept the look simple, fans were quick to notice that the tie-dye shirt was a homage to the late filmmaker, since Plaza had previously spoken about Baena’s love for tie-dying – and that they wore his designs for their wedding.

During a December 2021 appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show, Plaza shared that instead of wearing traditional wedding attire for their impromptu lockdown nuptials at home that year, they decided to wear the tie-dye pyjamas that Baena had made instead.

“We got married on a whim. Literally decided at around 5pm and got married at 8:30,” she explained at the time. “Jeff got really into tie-dyeing during the quarantine. So, I decided that Jeff and I were going to wear tie-dye pajamas that he had made for us. I made a love altar in the backyard of all of our love objects. It was very witchcore, but it happened.”

Noticing the tie-dye shirt homage to her husband, one fan wrote online: “So incredibly proud of this woman for being her truest self and keeping to whatever makes her feel comfortable.”

Another added: “Aubrey Plaza surprise guest on SNL + wearing Jeff’s shirt…made me cry.”

One person wrote: “It was so good to see Aubrey there.”

The pair started dating in 2011 and wed in 2021. They were frequent work partners throughout their relationship and marriage, with Plaza starring in Baena’s horror-comedy film Life After Beth, which was nominated for Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize.

They worked together again on the medieval dark comedy The Little Hours, starring husband-and-wife Alison Brie and Dave Franco. In 2020, Brie and Plaza co-starred again in the biggest commercial hit of Baena’s career, Horse Girl, which follows an introverted young woman whose dreams slowly start to take over her reality.

Baena’s last film Spin Me Round, premiered in 2022 and also starred Plaza and Brie.

A joint statement shared by Plaza’s family following Baena’s death said: “This is an unimaginable tragedy. We are deeply grateful to everyone who has offered support. Please respect our privacy during this time.”

Baena achieved recognition when he co-wrote the 2004 film I Heart Huckabees with director David O Russell, receiving a Gotham Award nomination for Best Feature.

If you are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch.