Category: News

(SPOILERS from The White Lotus will be found below.)

Daphne and Ethan had a moment during The White Lotus season finale. How far did that moment go? Was the “walk with me” a plain-language suggestion, or was Daphne indoctrinating Ethan on her method of marriage survival?

Clearly, the answer to that question isn’t clear at all. In fact, Mike White seems to delight in making us wonder. My initial thoughts (and I wasn’t mad at this) were that Daphne (who previously referred to her husband’s colleagues as “psychopaths”) could be setting out to murder Ethan, but both parties emerged from the conversation (physically) unscathed, so speculation abounds whether they actually had some revenge sex.

The above scene began with Ethan letting Daphne know about his suspicions of Harper and Cameron having a secret tryst that he interrupted. And hoo boy, Meghann Fahy really took people on a journey as her face processed (and then dismissed) what Ethan was communicating, and Will Sharpe convincingly played along into the wild, dreamlike turn of events that was beautifully shot. We do know that Daphne has been having her own fun, probably to cope with what she deals with at home. Her perspective, as expressed to Ethan, was that a little mystery in a relationship can be hot, and and you don’t have to be 100% with your partner’s actions to stay in love.

That kind of willful blindness says a lot, and Ethan didn’t seem like a dude (he did reject the sex workers) who would cheat on Harper. But maybe he did? As Decider’s Meghan O’Keefe points out, this remains an intentionally suggested possibility from Mike White, who declared in the Unpacking aftershow, “Whatever happened, it allows him to let go of the jealousy that has been brewing with him.” He added, “[I]t kind of brings back that first kind of sexual charge that happens in the beginning of relationships and sometimes fades away over time. By the end, you’re maybe like ‘Well, maybe what Ethan and Harper need was just a small dash of what Cameron and Daphne have.’”

Oh. Well, that changes everything. At first, I thought, “No way,” and now, I’m like, “Tell me more.” Is it time for Season 3 yet?

The White Lotus season finale is streaming on HBO Max.

Over the summer, George R.R. Martin confirmed reports that a Game of Thrones spinoff series centered on Jon Snow is in development. Not only that, Martin also confirmed that Kit Harrington pitched the idea and assembled his own team of writers. Since then, talk of the aptly titled Snow has been quiet as the Thrones franchise once again proved its dominance with its wildly popular prequel series, House of the Dragon. However, Harrington recently surfaced at a fan convention where he slyly dropped some hints about Snow.

According to Entertainment Weekly, neither fans, moderators, or Harrington broached the subject of Snow, which was presumably off limits. But when Harrington started commenting on the Game of Thrones finale, the actor couldn’t help but do a little table setting for Snow.

“At the end of the show when we find him in that cell, he’s preparing to be beheaded and he wants to be. He’s done. The fact he goes to the Wall is the greatest gift and also the greatest curse,” Harrington said:

“He’s gotta go back up to the place with all this history and live out his life thinking about how he killed Dany, and live out his life thinking about Ygritte [played by Rose Leslie] dying in his arms, and live out his life thinking about how he hung Olly [Brenock O’Connor], and live out his life thinking about all of this trauma, and that…” Harington paused for a brief moment. “That’s interesting,” he coyly emphasized.

While Harrington didn’t offer much else in the way of details, he did offer one final clue to how Jon Snow is doing when the spinoff series catches up with him: “He’s not okay.”

(Via Entertainment Weekly)

Either someone just saw Everything Everywhere All at Once (unlikely), or Marjorie Taylor Greene always has butt plugs on the brain. Over the weekend, America’s Most Unjustifiably Proud Chef appeared at the New York Young Republicans Club gala alongside Donald Trump Jr. After they were done being annoying about Brittney Griner, Taylor Greene gave a speech where she brought up the accessibility of sex toys.

“By the way, you can pick up a butt plug or a dildo at Target and CVS nowadays. I don’t even know how we got here. This is the state that we’re living in right now,” she said. It was part of a “transphobic rant,” which is nauseatingly on brand for the face of the GOP.

The controversial congresswoman was one of several high-profile conservative firebrands who bashed President Joe Biden, progressives and more at the annual event… Greene bragged about not supporting a “single penny” to help Ukraine battle Russia while suggesting money would be better spent on attacking drug cartels in Mexico. “They care about a country called Ukraine whose borders are far away and most of you couldn’t find it on a map,” added Greene, who received an award from the club.

Other guests at the gala included Steve Bannon, Rudy Giuliani, Roger Stone, and Andrew Giuliani. It was a real who’s who of people who actual New Yorkers despise. It’s also led people to wonder why the GOP hates sex toys so much.

(Via NY Post)

Missy Elliott joined Lizzo to perform their Cuz I Love You track “Tempo” at Lizzo’s Special Tour stop in Los Angeles last month, and she saw all she needed to see. The hip-hop pioneer was part of Cuz I Love You, but she can’t stop raving about Lizzo’s Special era. Last week, we had Stevie Nicks opining about Lizzo’s potential political future, and now, Elliott is dreaming of a world where the Grammy and Emmy winner fronts a musical.

“What I really appreciate about Lizzo is that she is so diverse,” Elliott wrote for Lizzo’s capsule in Entertainment Weekly‘s “2022 Entertainers Of The Year” package. “There are so many levels to her. When she’s in the studio, she knows how to go into these different characters, she knows how to be heard, she knows how to sing, dance, rap, and it’s all amazing.”

Rihanna ended her six-year music hiatus in late October with the powerful ballad “Lift Me Up” for the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack — and tacked on “Born Again” for good measure. Taylor Swift clocked the biggest first-week tallies since 2015 and monopolized the top 10 of Billboard‘s Hot 100 with Midnights. Lady Gaga won another Grammy with Tony Bennett and set out on her Chromatica Ball tour. And now, the powers that be at the 2023 Golden Globes are supposed to choose between them.

The Best Original Song, Motion Picture category is stacked: “Carolina” by Taylor Swift for Where The Crawdads Sing; “Ciao Papa” by Roeben Katz and Guillermo del Toro for Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio; “Hold My Hand” by Lady Gaga and BloodPop for Top Gun: Maverick; “Lift Me Up” by Rihanna, Ryan Coogler, Ludwig Göransson, and Tems for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever; and “Naatu Naatu” by Kala Bhairava, M. M. Keeravani, and Rahul Sipligunj for RRR.

Elsewhere in the nomination field, Selena Gomez is up for Best Actress In A TV Series, Musical Or Comedy for her role in Hulu’s Only Murders In The Building, co-starring alongside Martin Short and Steve Martin for two seasons with a third on the way. The category is rounded out by Quinta Brunson (Abbott Elementary), Kaley Cuoco (The Flight Attendant), Jenna Ortega (Wednesday), and Jean Smart (Hacks).

The films that make up the Best Original Score category are Babylon, The Banshees Of Inisherin, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, The Fabelmans, and Women Talking.

Other loosely music-related nominations of note are Donald Glover’s (sometimes known as Childish Gambino) for Best Actor In A Television Series, Musical Or Comedy; Austin Butler for Best Performance By An Actor In A Motion Picture, Drama for his portrayal in Elvis; and four nods for Pam & Tommy, Hulu’s limited series revisiting everything surrounding the 1995 sex tape made by Pamela Anderson and Mötley Crüe’s Tommy Lee.

The 2023 Golden Globes are scheduled for January 10, 2023 and will broadcast live on NBC with Jerrod Carmichael hosting.

After losing to Democratic challenger Katie Hobbs, failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake is being dragged by Republican officials and campaign strategists for blowing a “winnable” race. The major source of contention: Lake’s deference to Donald Trump and her refusal to ease up on pushing his election fraud lies.

According to insiders speaking to the Washington Post, Lake was frequently counseled to pull back on her “extremist rhetoric,” but she refused to listen to state officials who believe her allegiance to Trump cost her the election. Via Raw Story:

“Advisers wanted her to focus less on Trump’s false claims of voter fraud and more on homelessness, water independence and border security, according to people familiar with their counsel. Business leaders recommended that she tone down her MAGA message to create a friendlier climate for capital. Republican strategists asked her to stop denigrating early ballots, a method of voting once critical to Republican victories in the state.”

Direct appeals to Lake reportedly did not go well. “She would never break frame,” an Arizona Republican told the Post. “She’d sort of look at you with a puzzled face and be like, ‘But the election was stolen in 2020.’”

Others are now saying Lake’s campaign was doomed from the start.

“It was both a collapse and, now in hindsight, it was a failed campaign from the beginning,” another GOP official said. “I don’t really know what to say beyond outrageous arrogance and never getting out of primary mode. This election wasn’t stolen. It was given away.”

Like Trump, Lake has refused to concede the election, but unlike Trump, she has yet to gin up enough support to stage her own mini January 6. In late November, she pleaded with supporters to literally get themselves arrested in an effort to stop the election results from being certifying. She has not had many takers if any at all.

(Via Washington Post)

As a fan of R&B, you may have spent some portion of the year arguing against critics of the genre who believe it’s “dead” due to the changes it exhibited over the decades. Two years ago, I went on a whole spiel that argued against this belief before celebrating the best R&B albums of the year. In all honesty, fighting against the false death of R&B is a bit counterproductive when the signs of life are right there. Even then, celebrating its life seems to be closer to the end goal that we lover boys and girls have, as opposed to fighting to prove its life.

Over the course of 2022, the life R&B of could be found through the return of tenured favorites like Steve Lacy and Ravyn Lenae who spent some time away from the mic. Frequents like Lucky Daye, Kehlani, and Giveon made quick returns to update their catalogs with impressive bodies of work. Elsewhere, names like Amber Mark and Zyah Belle took big steps into the spotlight with their albums, steps that were too big to ignore.

So, without further ado, here are the best R&B albums of 2022 in alphabetical order.

Alex Isley & Jack Dine — Marigold

Fighting against the pressures that come from her family’s musical legacy, Alex Isley continues to reach the bar set for her. Alongside producer Jack Dine, on Marigold, Alex pays homage to R&B’s traditional roots. Alex’s artistic growth is on full display in the delivery of her angelic vocals, and when paired with Dine’s divine production, it makes for a heavenly musical experience. In a half-hour, Marigold is a celestial soundtrack for diehard romantics. If she continues at this pace, in the coming years Alex will be one of the foremost figures within the genre. – Flisadam Pointer

Amber Mark — Three Dimensions Deep

The best things come in three(s). That’s a saying that Amber Mark knows too well, considering that the number has such a huge presence in her life. So, it’s no surprise that her third project and official debut album, Three Dimensions Deep, is her best and most-fulfilling body of work to date. Aside from it continuing a theme in her life, Mark’s debut beautifully explores the scary and/or exciting depths of love. Whether it be her hesitance to be trusting on “Most Men,” or her experience with a head-over-heels love on “Out Of This World,” or even the search of something for the spirit on “What It Is,” Mark’s album makes for a magical experience that’s too good to ignore. – Wongo Okon

Ari Lennox — Age/Sex/Location

Social media has had a huge effect on how we do everything in our day-to-day lives, from something as simple as where we get our news to something more complex like the dynamic of our person-to-person relationships. Ari Lennox’s sophomore album Age/Sex/Location is born out of this world, and through anecdotes of romance, heartbreak, and growth, Dreamville’s First Lady indirectly acknowledges these hardships by creating a world of her own. With help from J. Cole, Lucky Daye, Chloe, and Summer Walker, Lennox signs into a world where she’s in control and her standards are met without her having to alter them in hopes of true love. – W.O.

Arin Ray — Hello Poison

With his sophomore album Hello Poison, Arin Ray learns that it’s impossible to deny love when it’s right in front of you. The project’s title is an oxymoron that welcomes the very thing that used to hurt him: love. Between records like the eccentric “This Is Nice” to the funky “Lovely,” Ray passionately displays his change of heart, going from hesitant to try again at love to the hope that his open feelings are matched and not left to waste. For Arin Ray, his second full-length album adds more to his already impressive palette of talents, proving that the Cleveland native is truly a special corner in R&B. – W.O.

Brent Faiyaz — Wasteland

Brent Faiyaz, the enigmatic frontman of the musical ensemble Sonder and successful solo artist, dials up “toxic n**** R&B” to the umpteenth power with his second studio album, Wasteland. Throughout the 19-track project, Faiyaz welcomes us into his world of fast cars, designer clothes, beautiful women, and superstardom. The crooner treks through the pitfalls of love as he struggles with his growing notoriety. The project also offers a bit of dinner theater, with Faiyaz layering several skits throughout the project. – Alexis Oatman

Domi & JD Beck — Not Tight

The prodigious jazz duo delivered a futuristic debut album showcasing the full breadth of their mastery of keys (Domi) and drums (JD Beck). The pair sound like they could score an Adult Swim cartoon in their sleep and they bring Anderson .Paak, Snoop Dogg, Herbie Hancock, Mac DeMarco, and others along for the ride. Not Tight is as technically sound as it is ambitious, zany, youthful, and just plain dizzying. Domi & JD Beck could very well be the envoys for a future of jazz music flushed with tinges of R&B, hip-hop, and more in the process. – Adrian Spinelli

Ella Mai — Heart On My Sleeve

Distill the essence of the Love Jones quote — “romance is about the possibility of the thing” — into 15 R&B songs, and you get Heart On My Sleeve. Ella Mai could’ve chased the next hit after “Boo’d Up” but committed to a substantial body of work — vulnerably parsing love and heartbreak, fallibility and titillation. The UK songstress’ flawless vocals demand to be felt, soaring atop ethereal beats (“Break My Heart”), smooth pockets (“A Mess” feat. Lucky Daye), or strings (“[Pieces”). Daye, Latto, and Roddy Ricch are welcomed, but Mai is the main character. – Megan Armstrong

FKA Twigs — Caprisongs

Arguably one of the more underrated albums from this year, FKA Twigs followed up her critically-acclaimed Magdalene with the dreamy, astro-themed Caprisongs. (She is, in fact, a Capricorn.) The record boasts party-ready collaborations with The Weeknd on the apt “Tears In The Club” and Pa Salieu on “Honda.” Still, Twigs proves once again that she’s also perfectly capable of shining on her own, with equally-enticing tracks like “Meta Angel.” – Lexi Lane

GIVĒON — Give Or Take

GIVĒON’s soul-shaking baritone blasted him to the top of R&B (“Heartbreak Anniversary”) and even pop (“Peaches”). The velvet voice has something to say, too? Game over. The Long Beach export has described his debut LP, Give Or Take, as reading his diary to his mother, whose perspective on his heartbreak serves as bookends (“Let Me Go,” “Unholy Matrimony”). Singles “For Tonight” and “Lie Again” are soaring, universal ballads, but painstaking, slow-burning glue tracks like “Dec 11,” “July 16th,” “Make You Mine,” and “Tryna Be” posture him as a timeless storyteller. – M.A.

Kehlani — Blue Water Road

With their third studio album Blue Water Road, Kehlani allows themselves to be more vulnerable than ever. The 13-track project is presumably the first time the Oakland singer stands firm in their queerness, boldly addressing their love life and sexuality. From beginning to end, the album seems to flow perfectly in and out of each song, with the warmth and richness of ’90s R&B. Like ocean tides, this project beckons you to come closer and let the waves wash over you. – A.O.

Lokre — Elizabeth

Lokre’s (pronounced lock-ree) debut album Elizabeth is a fine display of growth, maturity, and self-awareness. The Toronto singer’s project comes more than a decade into her musical career, but it’s the wisdom and knowledge that she gained along the way that helped to make Elizabeth the pristine album that it is. Her soothing vocals guide listeners through a tale of conquering her fears, fighting for her peace, and learning from her missteps. Through the 11 tracks on Elizabeth, Lokre dusts the past off of herself, settles into the present, and takes the steps forward for what is set to be a fruitful future. – W.O.

Lucky Daye — Candydrip

It didn’t take long for Lucky Daye to prove that he was the next best thing in R&B. Grammy nominations among other things for his 2019 debut Painted proved that, but for his second act, Candydrip, Daye sought to expand his range. The New Orleans singer was more flirtatious than ever on his latest effort, and he also brought more sounds into play, opting to spend more time in mischievous nighttime fun this time around. What makes Candydrip so good is Daye’s ability to blend his traditional sound with his experimental takes for a cohesive project that lets listeners see a new side of him as well as how wide his range is. – W.O.

PJ Morton — Watch The Sun

Like many projects that arrived over the past 18 months, PJ Morton’s Watch The Sun is inspired by his experiences during the height of the pandemic. The New Orleans native confessed that the project’s title is inspired by his hope for better days during one of the darkest times in recent history. This hope is ejected through the warm-hearted and jazzy title track, the bouncy “My Peace,” the inspirational “Still Believe,” and the moving “The Better Benediction.” Through a listen of Watch The Sun, it’s clear that Morton succeeded in his goal of creating hope for tomorrow. The album’s backbone in gospel uses the genre as a source to point toward greener pastures while its roots in R&B, soul, funk, and jazz provide the perfect sonic landscape to fall in love with the records as well as Morton’s message. – W.O.

Raveena — Asha’s Awakening

Raveena gave us the psychedelic R&B album with South Asian flair that we never expected but always needed. Album opener “Rush” is a flowery, tabla-studded number inspired by Bollywood and sounds like colors and jewels. “Secret” is an exotic tune that feels like it was crafted in a palace and features Vince Staples. The album’s central character is a Punjabi space princess named Asha, an idea that came to Raveena on an art museum acid trip. And this euphoric sense of adventure and exploration from her is everywhere on Asha’s Awakening. – A.S.

Ravyn Lenae — Hypnos

After a four-year hiatus from music, Chicago’s red-haired songstress, Ravyn Lenae, returned to drop Hypnos. The debut studio album is familiar, with Lenae’s signature high-pitched, breathy vocals reminiscent of Minne Riperton. Still, it positions the singer light years ahead of her previous efforts with futuristic production and burgeoning lyrical maturity, a la Brandy’s post-adolescent ‘Full Moon.’ The confidence present in the chorus of the Monte Booker-produced “Venmon” and lyrical depth of “Deep In The Word” properly reintroduce the artist and build upon Lenae’s moody sound initially found in her breakout tracks like 2018’s “Sticky.” Stick around for the album’s penultimate female-forward track, “Mercury,” for a taste of Lenae in fresh collaboration. The whisper tone and angsty lyrics on the track are assisted by alt-R&B breakout Fousheé, switching up from her typical collaborators to step into a new era. – Ellice Ellis

Robert Glasper — Black Radio III

Nearly a decade after its second installation, Robert Glasper sought to once again showcase the beauty behind Black music with Black Radio III. The incorporation of jazz, hip-hop, R&B, and soul, as well as collaborators that specialized in at least one of the aforementioned genres, made for an excellent compilation of what makes Black art, Black music specifically, so beautiful. Glasper uplifts his community with help from D Smoke and Tiffany Gouche on “Shine” while vying for longevity with PJ Morton and India.Arie on “Forever.” In addition to his own contributions, another thing that makes Black Radio III so memorable is Glasper’s ability to combine his diverse cast of collaborators into a project that remains cohesive, well-produced, and purposeful. – W.O.

Steve Lacy — Gemini Rights

Though the astronomical fame of “Bad Habit” is deserved — it’s a ridiculously groovy track — it’s a shame how much attention was stolen from Steve Lacy’s Gemini Rights as a whole. The album is meant to be experienced in full, with the jittery atmosphere of “Helmet” following the quiet ambiance of “Static,” or the drama of “Cody Freestyle” prefacing the endearing piano-driven ballad “Amber.” Gemini Rights is a hypnotizing masterpiece from start to finish. – Danielle Chelosky

Sudan Archives — Natural Brown Prom Queen

For her latest album, and first in three years, Sudan Archives, born Brittney Parks, set out to do something new this time around. This change in direction produced Natural Brown Prom Queen. Truthfully, the 18-track project is another example of Sudan Archives going against the grain and doing things her way. Natural Brown Prom Queen focuses on a teenage girl named Britt, the album’s alter ego described as “the girl next door from Cincinnati who drives around the city with the top down.” Sudan Archives takes on the role of a naive, yet passionate teenager to cover themes about race, womanhood, and the loving relationships one has with their inner circle. It’s all done through atypical offerings of pop, R&B, and electronic that only further the true uniqueness and impressive artistry that lives within Natural Brown Prom Queen. – W.O.

Syd — Broken Hearts Club

With the release of Broken Hearts Club, certified lover girl Syd overcomes the sophomore slump. In just under 40 minutes, the crooner solidifies her spot as one of the leaders in alternative R&B. Across the 13 tracks, the former The Internet frontperson blends a wide spectrum of sonic elements — impressively without repetition. From robotic lo-fi instrumentation to swaggered basslines, the project oozes with Syd’s creative confidence as her masterful songwriting abilities are placed on display. Stationed in her tried-and-true musical arena of love, Syd’s signature whisper tones tuck neatly into each track’s romantic current. On Broken Hearts Club, Syd knows who she is as an artist, what her sound is, and allows her sharp ear for production to lead the way. – F.P.

Zyah Belle — Yam Grier

Yes, 2022 became the year that Zyah Belle released her debut album Yam Grier, but don’t mistake it for her first foray into the music world. Belle’s had her fair share of experience in the industry with 2016’s New Levels, 2019’s IX, and her 2021 EP Who’s Listening Anyway being proof of that. With Yam Grier, Belle places everything that makes her so special on wax. Through 14 tracks, Belle bathes in the warm freedoms and bright resolve that is so clearly a result of her Bay Area roots. So when she rocks out with Jordan Hawkins on “Back To Back” after catching a groove on “Holding On” all to find her funk on “Break Your Heart,” the only thing you can do is commend and applaud Belle for her versatility a determination to do it all. – W.O.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Back in 2018, Ariana Grande dropped her 2000s-inspired video for “Thank U, Next,” which featured a memorable cameo from Legally Blonde‘s Jennifer Coolidge. Now, fast-forward to 2022: Entertainment Weekly just named Coolidge one of their 2022 Entertainers Of The Year and they got Grande to interview her.

During the conversation, Grande couldn’t help but inquire Coolidge about the impact playing Stifler’s mom in American Pie had on her sex life. Grande asked, “You’ve spoken publicly about the tremendous impact that playing Stifler’s mom has had on your life. In particular, how much dick it’s gotten you. Do you remember the best dick you got from playing Stifler’s mom? Do you keep in touch?”

Coolidge gave that honor to “the youngest fellow” and noted of the awkward morning after, “I told him I needed to get a blow dry. So he was so young, we called his mother to see where I could get a blow dry. It was so weird that happened on the phone, it was very clear that we were in the bed together.”

(Grande, of course, knows a thing or two about the topic: In 2018, she helped popularized the term “BDE” — short for “big d*ck energy” — by using it in reference to then-fiancé Pete Davidson.)

There was more to Coolidge’s answer than that, so check out full interview here.

[This post contains spoilers for The White Lotus season two]

The seeds of Greg being the supervillian of The White Lotus universe were planted the first time we saw him. In the Hawaii-set season one episode, “Recentering,” he’s introduced muttering about his key not working (his first words: “F*ck you”) before Tanya, his future wife, tells him that he’s at the wrong door — this is her room. It seemed like an innocuous (and drunken) mistake at the time, but knowing what we know following the season two finale, Greg may have already had his sights on her riches.

Flash forward to Sicily, and Tanya learns that Greg is in cahoots with Quentin and plans to kill her. She gets the drop on the high-end gays and a big-donged, cocaine-supplying Italian man, but while attempting to escape their yacht, she falls, conks her head, and dies (it’s her body that Daphne discovered in the season premiere). It’s a tragic end to a brilliant season. Speaking of finales, it was during the season one finale that creator Mike White planted the first clue to Tanya’s impending demise.

“In the end of last season, Tanya is sitting with Greg in the last episode and he’s talking about his health issues and she says, ‘I’ve had every kind of treatment over the years, death is the last immersive experience I haven’t tried,’ and I was thinking, it’d be so fun to bring Tanya back because she’s such a great character, but maybe that’s the journey for her, the journey to death,” he said in a post-episode featurette on HBO Max. “Not that I really wanted to kill Tanya because I love her as a character and obviously love Jennifer, but we’re going to Italy, she’s such a diva, a larger-than-life female archetype, it felt maybe we could devise our own operatic conclusion to her life and story.”

Maybe season three can be a prequel? Either way, RIP Peppa Pig.

(Via Deadline)

Today (December 12), Entertainment Weekly named Sadie Sink one of their 2022 Entertainers Of The Year. Furthermore, they got another supreme entertainer in Taylor Swift to pen a note about Sink, who starred in Swift’s All Too Well: The Short Film.

Swift’s message begins, “Sadie Sink is a remarkable presence on screen, on stage, and on set. While watching the monitors during the filming of the short film we made together, I often found myself transfixed by the effortlessness and complexity of her performance. Scratch that, because it didn’t feel like a performance at all. Her grief, her hope, her loss — it all felt real.”

After praising Sink’s acting abilities in Stranger Things, The Whale, and All Too Well, Swift concluded, “She is a force to watch and a pleasure to know. I’ll continue to feel just as lucky to watch from afar as she lights up the screen, tells new stories, and shows us new sides of herself: multifaceted and brilliant, dark and unhinged, twinkly and full of promise. This artist contains multitudes, and we get to look on as she courageously unveils them. Everyone say, ‘Thank you, Sadie.’”

Read Swift’s fill message here or below.

“Sadie Sink is a remarkable presence on screen, on stage, and on set. While watching the monitors during the filming of the short film we made together, I often found myself transfixed by the effortlessness and complexity of her performance. Scratch that, because it didn’t feel like a performance at all. Her grief, her hope, her loss — it all felt real.

I often tell people that Sadie’s face is so transparent, you can even see the thoughts she almost has. After over a decade of work, as the internet would say, this year ‘Sadie Sink’s rent was due.’ She helped bring ‘Running Up That Hill’ by Kate Bush back into the cultural spotlight with a harrowing performance as Max Mayfield on Stranger Things season 4. Max’s conflicted sorrow, regret, and resentment was potent and piercing in her portrayal, a slow burn that simmered with intensity. Even when despondent, Max’s fury was palpable from beneath layers of hurt. It was an evolutionary turn for the character, helmed gracefully and tastefully by an artist who knows how to extensively prepare and fully commit.

She continued to show audiences this level of versatility and emotional dexterity, next rising to the challenge of playing Brendan Fraser’s complex and defiant estranged daughter Ellie in Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale. Ellie is a character for whom years of rejection and confusion has calcified into rage, and Sadie threaded the needle with the exact attention to detail such tumult calls for. Darren said of working with her, ‘Sadie is as precise as a surgeon’s scalpel. She’s a firecracker of emotion and a complete professional.’

I remember being lucky enough to witness those exact emotional fireworks sparking throughout our shoot, when she took on the role of a lovestruck, then lovelorn young woman I named ‘Her’ in All Too Well: The Short Film. When she went head-to-head with Dylan O’Brien in an explosive argument scene, I decided to shoot the rehearsal on a whim. Good thing, because Sadie lit up that kitchen fight with ad-libbed lines, improvised twists and turns, and all with riveting nuance. The rehearsal is what ended up in the film, a one-shot battle that I didn’t have the nerve to cut down in the edit. Because EVERYTHING was captivating.

She is a force to watch and a pleasure to know. I’ll continue to feel just as lucky to watch from afar as she lights up the screen, tells new stories, and shows us new sides of herself: multifaceted and brilliant, dark and unhinged, twinkly and full of promise. This artist contains multitudes, and we get to look on as she courageously unveils them. Everyone say, ‘Thank you, Sadie.’”