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How The 2000s Raunchiest Comedy Erased Nerds
By Joshua Tyler
| Published
The year is 2004, and audiences are buying tickets to have a laugh at the expense of a boy named Napoleon in the movie Napoleon Dynamite. The film becomes a box office hit, and no one minds that its protagonist is pitiable. He’s a nerd, part of a cultural group everyone feels comfortable subjecting to ridicule. No one wanted to be a nerd like Napoleon, and that was the point.
The year is 2006, and being a geek is so cool that a model named Olivia Munn begins portraying herself as a nerd. It may or may not have been true, but it works, and diving into the world of nerds helps make her famous. Munn builds an entire career out of being a desirable dweeb, and soon, the world is filled with attractive celebrities claiming geek status.
Modern readers may have a hard time imagining a world in which geeks and nerds weren’t accepted, but that was the norm until 2005, when one movie changed everything people thought about them.
The 40-Year Old Virgin was that inciting movie, and this is the story of how it trapped the world into thinking there’s nothing wrong with nerds.
Judd Apatow Makes Freaks And Geeks A Priority
The world changed in 2005. By 2006, American culture was geek culture, a place where it would surprise no one to hear the captain of the football team talking about his newly purchased lightsaber.
What happened between Napoleon Dynamite in 2004 and the rise of the aforementioned Olivia Munn in 2006 wasn’t organic. People didn’t change their minds about nerds because they suddenly realized they should be nicer to them. The world changed its mind about geeks because it was tricked into loving them by a singular piece of entertainment called The 40-Year Old Virgin.
Released in 2005, The 40-Year Old Virgin was the first movie directed by comedian-turned-filmmaker Judd Apatow. In 1999, he’d previously tried to make a TV series around the idea of lovable and sympathetic nerds. The show was called Freaks & Geeks, and it was critically acclaimed. Those rave reviews didn’t matter. Audiences were so turned off by the concept that the series was canceled after airing only a handful of episodes.
Judd Apatow didn’t give up. He found a new way to deliver his pro-geek message when he later teamed up with comedic actor Steve Carell and, with him, convinced Hollywood to greenlight an R-rated comedy called The 40-Year Old Virgin.
“I thought of it as Freaks and Geeks 20 years later if one of them never had sex,” he told GQ. “That was my secret thought as I made the movie.”
He’d learned important lessons from his past failures. This time Judd took a less obvious approach to sympathetic geekiness. He did it with a trick, a trick that transformed nerd-hating viewers into full-on nerd lovers.
Andy Stitzer is the movie’s main character, and he is exactly what the movie’s title says he is. He also has a massive collection of vintage action figures and knows a few magic tricks. He may not wear glasses, but Andy’s not only a 40-year-old virgin, he’s also a 40-year-old nerd.
In the minds of those buying tickets to see it, The 40-Year Old Virgin was supposed to be another piece of nerd abuse comedy in the style of Napoleon Dynamite. That trick is the source of the movie’s screenwashing success. The 40-Year-Old Virgin is designed to appear as if it’s mocking Andy while quietly making the audience root for him. Then, when they least expect it, they fall in love with him.
This is a Derision Inversion. A derision inversion is a persuasion technique in which a narrative initially encourages the audience to mock or dismiss a character, then gradually transfers audience identification onto that same character, transforming ridicule into sympathy or emotional allegiance.
The Apatow comedy’s name sells the idea of promised geek mockery, and the movie’s trailers only further relayed this notion by focusing on The 40-Year Old Virgin’s lead character making a fool of himself while getting his chest waxed. The film’s marketing wisely avoided anything too heartfelt.
A chest-waxing laugh at the expense of Andy Stitzer isn’t all the movie is and wasn’t something it could have been. The film’s chief nerd is played by Steve Carell, an actor incapable of being unlikable. That’s exactly what Judd Apatow wanted.
How The 40-Year Old Virgin Hypnotized The World
Audiences walked into The 40-Year Old Virgin ready to laugh at Steve Carell’s Andy Stitzer. By the time they walked out, they were laughing with him.
In the minds of viewers, Andy became the kind of guy you’d love to be friends with, the kind of guy you’d like to see date your daughter. He became that person not because he changed but because you did. He doesn’t stop building scale replica models or staying up late playing tuba. Andy Stitzer is the same nerd at the end that he was at the beginning, except with a new confidence built up by realizing people care about him.
Andy’s journey is not one of abandoning his nerdiness to become someone else. He doesn’t become Stefan Stitzer to get the girl. Andy’s arc in The 40-Year Old Virgin is completed when he learns to accept himself as he is, and then surrounds himself with people who love him, geekiness and all.
The 40-Year Old Virgin was a huge hit. The movie opened at number one and stayed there for two weeks. It remained in the top two for five weeks. Those who saw it went back with their friends. Those who didn’t see it likely heard the news media talking about it and saw lovable Steve Carell out there, front and center, as the movie’s prototypical nerd.
The movie went on to spawn a whole generation of Judd Apatow-related movies, like Knocked Up and Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Steve Urkel was no longer the nerd image in people’s heads. Judd Apatow’s movie and Steve Carell’s warm, friendly character took root there instead.
It doesn’t matter whether you’ve seen the film. The movie’s success created a huge cultural shift by reprogramming the brains of the people who saw it. Those people then took that programming with them and spread it to others. The nerd positivity The 40-Year Old Virgin designed spread through American culture like a mind virus, carried to new, impressionable brains by talk shows and other pieces of corporate entertainment rushing to duplicate that success. The entertainment media battled each other to be on the cutting edge of what Judd Apatow had now convinced them was a new trend.
Maybe your first indoctrination was watching Superbad or a documentary on the dangers of bullying. It doesn’t matter where you got the idea that nerds weren’t so bad; it was The 40-Year Old Virgin that put it in your head.
The Origins Of Andy Stitzer
None of it would have happened if Apatow hadn’t served as a producer on a previous R-rated comedy called Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. Steve Carell has a supporting role in that film. He steals every scene he shows up in.
Judd Apatow was so impressed he told Steve to call him, if he ever had an idea for something he wanted to do. Steve Carell did. He’d come up with a character to use in sketches with the legendary Second City Improv group and told Apatow about it. Carell told GQ: “It was about a guy playing poker with his friends, and they were all telling really dirty sex stories, and slowly, you realize that he’s a virgin, and his stories make no sense.”
That sketch would eventually become one of the funniest and best scenes in the movie, but as Apatow and Carell fleshed out the concept, they realized they wanted to do something more than a cheap sketch. They wanted people to understand their geeky virgin as a real person.
Apatow told GQ: “We learned from our research when we read a lot of blogs on the internet from virgins that they are all just nice, shy people, and they weren’t odd. There wasn’t any big joke to it.”
They took the same approach with Andy’s friends who, in a standard movie about an awkward virgin might have mocked him or bullied him. But Judd Apatow tells Entertainment Magazine: “At first glance, these guys embody every bad, misogynistic attitude toward women…but deep down, they are sweet guys with the best of intentions who cover up their own terror with horrible theories on women.”
The movie never tries to hide Andy’s quirks. Apatow says, “Andy has turned his energy—decades of pent-up sexual energy—into his other interests. So he’s amassed a rather large collection of action figures and video games. He’s not exactly a hermit, but he’s an introvert who keeps to himself amidst his collection of stuff.”
Andy is a good, kind, lovable person and also a legitimately introverted, card-carrying geek who keeps his action figures vintage and knows an assortment of magic tricks. He’s the kind of guy you’d have met at the San Diego Comic Con, in the early days before attending became acceptably cool.
Making Andy sympathetic may have been Apatow’s intention, but the studio funding his film was still stuck in a mindset that had them thinking of nerds as less than human. After only five days of filming, Univeral Pictures got cold feet and tried to kill the movie.
Maybe they’d seen Napoleon Dynamite too many times and weren’t ready to take off their nerd-hatred colored glasses, but Universal decided Steve Carell’s character looked like a serial killer and wanted nothing to do with it. Apatow and his team calmed them down, allowing the movie to resume filming.
When Nerds Were The Disease And Punching Was The Cure
Before The 40-Year-Old Virgin, nerd perceptions were very different. To prove that point, take a trip back in time with me to the release of the movie Back to the Future. Arriving in 1985, the film features a prototypical nerd character named George McFly.
When the movie starts, George McFly is an adult nerd, and as a result, the movie assumes he’s also a total loser. By the time Back to the Future ends, his character arc is completed only when he gives up his nerd tendencies and starts acting like the kind of cool, confident guy who punches assholes in the face and plays tennis on the weekend.
Changing George McFly from a nerd into a tennis-playing tool is, in a sense, the entire reason for Marty McFly’s adventure. Because, after all, who’d want a nerd for a father? No thanks. Get that man a doubles partner.
It worked because this was the ideology eighties audiences were most comfortable with. No one paused their VCR and asked, “Hey, what’s wrong with being a nerd?”
The best example of America’s pre-2005 anti-nerd bias is found in the most famous nerd of all time: Bill Gates.
Long before Elon, Bill Gates was famous for being a geek, and also famous for being uniquely hated. He was frequently criticized for overly aggressive business practices and being evasive when faced with government scrutiny. The view of the general public in the 80s and 90s, when it came to Bill Gates, was that he was a creep who spent way too much time reading books and stole everything he’d accomplished. He was also viewed as the prototypical modern representation of a nerd.
Gates was once so hated that it became unsafe for him to go out in public. It culminated in 1998 when, while walking down the street, he was attacked and hit with a pie in the face by a French activist, Noel Godin. The act was seen as a protest against Bill’s monopolistic practices, and the public didn’t exactly feel bad for Bill when it happened. Most felt he had it coming.
While he’s become unpopular again in recent years, after The 40-Year-Old Virgin, people viewed him favorably. Gates became Geek Jesus, a super-smart savior traveling the world dispensing vaccines to sick kids.
The Steve Urkel Effect
Not all nerds were hated in that pre-2005 world. Hated or not, none of them were respected. Few figures embodied this form of anti-nerd bigotry better than Steve Urkel.
Steve Urkel was one of the most popular characters in television history. In the early 1990s, people quoted him, dressed as him for Halloween, and bought thousands of talking Steve Urkel dolls.
As played by Jaleel White on the sitcom Family Matters, Steve Urkel was loved specifically because people enjoyed mocking him. Laughing at Steve made viewers feel better about themselves because at least they weren’t like him.
In one of the later Family Matters seasons, Steve develops a magic formula called “cool juice” that transforms him into a less intelligent, more suave version of himself called Stefan. When it happened, the audience did not bemoan the loss of their beloved nerd. Instead, fans celebrated Steve’s victory over his nerdiness. In the context of the show, Stefan is rewarded for his coolness by getting the girl whose heart nerdy Steve Urkel had been trying and failing to win all along.
The most popular, long-running gag on Family Matters revolved around Carl Winslow throwing Steve Urkel out of his house. He tosses him out because Steve is an annoying nerd. It was funny every time it happened because Carl was always right. Steve was annoying, and like all nerds, he had it coming.
The Early Foundations Of Nerd Acceptance
The foundation for full nerd acceptance was laid in 1999 when corporations looked up and noticed that nerdy things were becoming exceptionally profitable.
Lines wrapped around the block for The Phantom Menace. Star Wars toys were flying off shelves, and they weren’t being sold to kids. The Matrix was the surprise hit of the decade, and the adult men in line for it looked like they’d fallen out of a Volkswagon bus on its way to a permanently single convention.
The geeks who opened their wallets for those 1999 cash cows did not gain acceptance by rote of their numbers. If you were one of many bespectacled Star Wars fans who slept outside a movie theater that year, there’s a good chance a carload of frat boys drove past, rolled down their windows, stuck out their backsides, and shouted, “Nerds!” at you and your fellow line campers.
The local news was also present at those Jedi campouts. Their aim was to cover the massive popularity of geek sci-fi properties with a strongly slanted “hey, look at these crazy weirdos!” angle. Making fun of nerds got them ratings.
Those big companies that noticed the profit potential built up inside those line-standers spent the next few years greenlighting more geek-friendly projects. Slowly, as movies like The Matrix gained more widespread acceptance, the cultural stigma against geekery began to soften. It didn’t dissolve.
The Last Gasp of a Nerd-Hating Culture
When released in 2004, Napoleon Dynamite, for all its uniqueness, was the last gasp of a nerd-hating culture. The character was popular in the same way Steve Urkel was popular. Audiences loved laughing at him, but no one was interested in laughing with him.
Without the built-in negative feelings American culture had about nerds, it would not have been OK to laugh at all. Instead, the audience might have felt sorry for Napoleon, who lives a horrible and sad life deserving of pity, not scorn.
Napoleon Dynamite’s a nerd, so no one cared. That left the 2004 audience members buying tickets to his movie, free to laugh at him.
The Current State Of Nerds
Being a geek is now chic. Nerds have gained such broad acceptance that much of our world has been realigned to protect them. Anti-bullying campaigns are the standard in public schools, and social media is filled with super-attractive celebrities telling stories about how they were abused and bullied in high school before they got hot.
Stories of past nerd suffering make the tellers more popular, or they wouldn’t share them. Take the time to investigate, and you’ll likely find most of them aren’t true.
It doesn’t matter. When an attractive would-be star declares themselves a nerd, it’s viewed as a good marketing move. Entire YouTube empires have been built off that simple premise. It may not last forever, but in 2025 things have never been better for the word nerd.
Elon Musk Owes It All To Steve Carell
If pop culture’s view on nerds before 2005 was embodied by Steve Urkel, then in a post-2005 world, it is best embodied by Tony Stark. Stark is the smartest and quirkiest character in the Marvel Universe. Like the many other fictional and real-life nerds who came before him, Tony talks too fast because his mouth can’t keep up with the ideas in his head.
Tony’s every bit the nerd Steve Urkel is, except he’s handsome, rich, and can get any woman he wants without the aid of cool juice to unleash his inner Stefan. And, of course, Tony Stark only wears glasses when doing so will give him superpowers or make him look awesome.
If pre-2005’s real-world nerd representative is best embodied by Bill Gates, then in a post-Apatow world, he’s been replaced by Elon Musk.
Where Gates repulsed everyone who encountered him, Elon Musk is the toast of the social media and the podcasting world. Elon’s notorious for the number of beautiful women he juggles, and he’s the kind of celebrity most Hollywood stars only dream of being.
There’s no doubt about it: Elon Musk is a nerd. He talks too fast, slurs his words, plays video games, geeks out about space, and has the posture of a middle-aged writer. Yet, everyone wants to be him. If they don’t, it’s only because they’re jealous.
Things have changed, and nerds, at least the good-looking or rich ones, have Judd Apatow’s artful screenswashing in The 40-Year-Old Virgin to thank for it. When it comes to the less physically fortunate nerds out there, maybe things are as bad as ever. Except now they’ve lost their identity to the likes of hunky Henry Cavill (who loves nerdy games and building computers).
If Henry Cavill is now a nerd, then I suppose we’ll have to come up with a new word for the poor, introverted, fat kid still living in his mother’s basement and hoping to meet a supermodel who won’t expect him to look like Superman. Sorry kid, it’s probably not going to happen. Here’s to the losers, one and all.
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Jennifer Lopez is celebrating the New York Knicks’ long-awaited NBA Championship win like a true New Yorker.
“Congratulations to the New York Knickerbockers, NBA Champions!!!!!” Lopez, 56, wrote via Instagram on Saturday, June 13, and alongside footage showing the Puerto Rican pop star watching the final seconds of Game 5 as the Knicks clinched the win and took home the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy for the first time in 53 years.
“I remember the last time the Knicks were making a run for the championship and rushing home every game day from the set to watch Ewing, Starks and Oakley make a hell of a run,” Lopez continued in the caption “We have all been waiting patiently for this day for years. Thank you for uniting our city again…for uniting the world. You restored faith, hope and belief in that there’s nothing we can’t do!! Hard work, goodness and teamwork pays off. You set the city on fire!!”
She concluded, “Proud to be from the block!! You already know. Knicks forever. CONGRATULATIONS!! Love, Jenny.”
The Knicks defeated the San Antonio Spurs 94-90 in Game 5 of the 2026 NBA Finals, held in San Antonio. Despite not winning at Madison Square Garden in New York City, plenty of A-list celebrities and die-hard Knicks fans made the trip to Texas to watch the Knicks secure their historic championship win, including Timothée Chalamet, Sydney Sweeney and Prince Harry.
Lopez was not in attendance, though that certainly did not keep her from celebrating accordingly. Her Knicks-loving comments come, however, after Jenny from the Block made waves for her controversial take on TikTok’s popular “Subway Takes” account.
“You have to be born in New York to be a New Yorker,” Lopez said on June 4. “Yes, I know everybody wants to claim the city. Everybody wants to claim our city, but you have to be born in New York. You have to be born in one of the five boroughs to be a New Yorker.”
(For the uninitiated, Lopez was born and raised in the Bronx, New York.)
“Subway Takes” host Kareem Kareem Rahma took issue with Lopez’s take, arguing that most people assume you can claim the title of “New Yorker” after you have lived in the city for at least a decade.
Jennifer Lopez is opening up about fighting Latina stereotypes during the early days of her career. “There’s so many different people living their stories [in America],” Lopez, 55, said during the Thursday, November 28, episode of the “Variety Awards Circuit” podcast. “That was always my goal as an actor, as a producer, was to kind […]
“When I moved here in 2012, everyone was like, ‘In 10 years, you can call yourself a New Yorker,” Rahma, 39, retorted. “Then, I stayed 10 years. … The New Yorkers used to have this as a rule.”
“That’s a rule? I didn’t get the memo,” Lopez responded. “I did not sign the petition. … You live in New York, you take on characteristics of New Yorkers, probably, by [50 years here], you have a New York sensibility, you pay New York taxes, [but] when you’re born in New York, that’s when you’re a New Yorker.”
She concluded, “I said what I said, and I meant it.”
Country singer Tyler Farr was unable to perform at the Goshen Stampede in Connecticut after sustaining a “severe concussion” in a farming accident.
“Due to a motor vehicle incident on his farm, Tyler Farr was taken to a local hospital and diagnosed with a severe concussion,” a Saturday, June 13, social media statement from event organizers read, announcing the show’s cancellation. “Tyler Farr will no longer be able to perform at the Goshen Stampede on June 13, 2026. We appreciate everyone’s understanding and will share additional event information as it becomes available. We wish Tyler a speedy recovery.”
Farr, 42, was replaced by David Foster and the All Stars during the festival.
“We are fortunate to have David Foster and the All Stars step in for Tyler,” the event’s statement continued. “With numerous performances, including legendary appearances at Mohegan Sun Casino, the All Stars are a legendary New England group of musicians led by Dr. David ‘Lefty’ Foster, performing legendary classic rock, country and R&B hits.”
The Instagram message concluded, “The Goshen Stampede is full steam ahead with all everts, and we’re excited to get down, dirty and country with two huge rodeos, truck pulls, monster trucks, great food, carnival rides and family fun! Gates open at 11 a.m. today. Let’s rodeo!”
Farr, who has not addressed his condition or the show cancellation, rose to country music fame in 2012.
“I grew up in a small town in pretty much the middle of the United States [in] Garden City, Missouri. There’s about 1,000 people there,” Farr recalled to Taste of Country in November 2012 of his rural upbringing. “When you grow up in a town like that, you breathe and eat the country and that lifestyle [because] there’s not a lot to do. You either take over your family farm or you go work for the union, and you see some people go to college. It’s just a simple lifestyle, [and] that led me to write about the things I’m writing about now.”
TikTok star turned country music singer Tayler Holder canceled his nine-date When No One’s Around Tour to prioritize his mental health. “This is one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make, but I need to cancel my upcoming shows,” Holder, 28, wrote via Instagram on Monday, May 11. “Over the past several months, […]
He added at the time, “From an early age, I was infatuated with music. I always loved it and was always dancing or playing something. As I grew older, I started taking classical voice lessons and did classical music all through high school, which I know is hard to believe because it sounds like [I] smoke a carton of cigarettes every day. I sang all through high school, and then went to a college on a performance scholarship.”
Farr dropped his newest EP, Quit Bein’ Country, late last year.
A24 has one of the cleanest reputations in Hollywood, with its record of near-perfect releases frankly remarkable. Most recently, A24 delivered one of its most viral films of the past year in Backrooms, an unsettling, David Lynch-esque horror movie based on a viral 2019 creepypasta. So impressive that it derailed the theatrical run of The Mandalorian and Grogu, the Renate Reinsve and Chiwetel Ejiofor-led film has already made history, with 20-year-old Kane Parsons now the youngest director to hold the #1 spot at the North American box office.
Backrooms might be the most popular A24 release of 2026 yet, but it is far from the only one worthy of praise. Other A24 movies to debut in theaters in the first half of the year include the micro-budget horror Undertone, the Glen Powell-led How to Make a Killing, Harry Lighton’s R-rated romance Pillion, and Zendaya and Robert Pattinson‘s The Drama. All these movies come in advance of A24’s most ambitious project yet, as they join the many others adapting video games with Elden Ring, which is currently scheduled to be released in theaters in March 2028.
Beyond all that, one of the most underrated A24 projects of 2026 is currently proving popular on streaming, following its debut on HBO Max on May 29. The film in question is The Moment, a mockumentary that sees the hugely popular Charli XCX satirize fame and fortune through a digital lens. Although the film made just shy of $5 million at the global box office, it actually became the third-biggest limited opening of the last five years in theaters, behind Marty Supreme and Wes Anderson‘s Asteroid City. Four months since its theatrical debut, The Moment is an instant streaming hit, becoming one of the ten most-streamed movies on HBO Max in the U.S.
What Did Critics Say About ‘The Moment’?
Mockumentaries are famously difficult to earn universal critical praise from. With that in mind, an average score of 67% on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes is a strong reception for The Moment, even if Screen Rant called it an “unmitigated disaster.” Ross Bonaime’s review for Collider was much more positive, awarding a 7/10 score and saying, “The Moment is a delightful spotlight for Charli XCX as an actor, and the concept itself finds some playful ways to expand on the lore of her massively successful album.”
The Moment is streaming now on HBO Max. Stay tuned to Collider for more streaming stories.
- Release Date
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February 6, 2026
- Runtime
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103 minutes
- Director
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Aidan Zamiri
- Writers
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Charli XCX, Aidan Zamiri, Bertie Brandes
- Producers
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David Hinojosa, Charli XCX
Chrissy Teigen and her family are saying goodbye to their patriarch, Ron Teigen, after his recent death.
“Papa, your angels are together,” Chrissy, 40, wrote via her Instagram Stories on Saturday, June 13, sharing a photo of herself posing with mom Pepper, sister Tina, niece Pasha and daughter Luna.
In a follow-up pic of Pepper and an unidentified companion, Chrissy captioned the upload, “His loves.”
The Cravings founder announced on Wednesday, June 10, that her father died at the age of 86.
“Yesterday I woke up with a daddy and went to bed without one,” she wrote in a social media tribute, confirming Ron’s death. “All the same things happened. Hurried shower. Picked up stuffing from the dog toys. Answered some emails. Avoided some. Laughed with my friends and put on a pretty dress for a friend’s birthday. Took a video. How cute is this dress! And then my dad just like … f***ing died.”
Chrissy Teigen is mourning the sudden loss of her father, Ron. “Yesterday I woke up with a daddy and went to bed without one,” Teigen, 40, wrote via Instagram on Wednesday, June 10, alongside a video of her 86-year-old dad. “All the same things happened. Hurried shower. Picked up stuffing from the dog toys. Answered […]
Chrissy continued, “I thought that since we talk about it and I’ve come to terms with him always having been an ‘old dad’ that I wouldn’t have fallen to the ground the way I did. I’ve thought about this phone call for years. I’ll be ready.”
According to Chrissy, she recently wrote her dad an emotional letter “about how grateful [she] was for him” that she was able to deliver prior to his death.
“[The letter was] about how hard he worked for us growing up and how much I love him. I am forever grateful for the moment I handed him the letter, and all our years before,” Chrissy said. “If you didn’t know my dad, my dad hated nearly everything in the world that wasn’t a bass guitar, swing dancing, wood carving, animals, YouTube or his family.”
The supermodel concluded, “God, I love you so much. I will talk to you every night. Thank you for being such a great dad. Until we complain again 🤍🤍🤍.”
Chrissy is married to singer John Legend, who issued his own tribute to his beloved father-in-law.
Chrissy Teigen is getting candid about grieving the death of her beloved father, Ron. “There’s a lot of emotions. Everybody said it’d be, like, waves and it is,” Teigen, 40, said in an Instagram Story video posted Friday, June 12. “Me and my sister [are] joking, laughing ‘cause my dad was very funny and sarcastic. […]
“We love you so much Papa Ron,” Legend, 47, wrote via Instagram at the time. “I’m so glad you got to spend so much time with your grandbabies. I loved seeing you beam with pride at the beautiful family you helped create.”
Chrissy, who shares four children with Legend, has been candid about her bereavement journey in the wake of her father’s death.
“There’s a lot of emotions. Everybody said it’d be, like, waves and it is,” she said in a candid Friday, June 12, social media video. “Me and my sister [are] joking, laughing ‘cause my dad was very funny and sarcastic. We talked about death and stuff, [but] … everything’s so weird.”
Laverne Cox is opening up about her deep connection and meaningful relationship with a man who held opposing political views.
“I was in sheer bliss with this man and you know, things would come up and we would agree to disagree about some political things,” Cox, 54, said while appearing on Wednesday, June 10, episode of The New York Times’ “Modern Love” podcast. “Problematic but not, like, offensive. He had been, the way he grew up and algorithms he was given, information he was consuming that he had been propagandized to. So I tried to give him grace there.”
The Orange is the New Black star continued, “I would understand that his facts were not facts — that they were wrong — and I would express that. I would, you know, offer to look things up and cross reference sources.”
Cox was in a three-and-a-half year relationship with a member of the New York City Police Department who voted for President Donald Trump in all three presidential elections. While appearing on The View on Monday, June 8, Cox said she initially had a “no dating cops” policy, further claiming that her ex initially told her he worked in real estate.
Theo Wargo/Getty Images Laverne Cox is learning to cope with her recent breakup one day at a time. “I am recently single,” Cox, 51, said during the Thursday, May 16, episode of Nick Viall’s “The Viall Files” podcast. “It’s really new, it’s literally over a month. It’s weird to talk about.” Cox met her last […]
It wasn’t until the two were already deep in love that she realized he was a MAGA supporter and a police officer.
Laverne Cox Getty Images
“When it started out, there was a beautiful, amazing guy who treated me better than anyone I’d ever met,” Cox told The View cohosts at the time. “The political affiliation became obvious, but I’d already had feelings for him, and I wanted to see him as a human being beyond that. His politics and his unexamined life became clear after the three-and-a-half-years. I was like, ‘I love him, but I love myself more.’ And staying in this relationship betrayed myself.”
While speaking on the “Modern Love” podcast, Cox acknowledged the backlash she received from the LGBTQ+ community as a result of her relationship with a staunch conservative, saying that for years their “connection was bigger than his ignorance, I would say, around politics.”
“I just refuse to betray myself again — as much as that breakup was traumatizing and talking about it publicly. Like, so many people turned on me because I dated a man who was a cop and voted for Trump three times,” she said. “And I get that. I get why people were upset with me about that. I have to say this every time I mention this, is that I never adapted or promoted any Trump policies or any Republican policies. I remain committed to fighting for trans liberation and Black liberation and reproductive rights and a living wage.”
She concluded, “So, I fell in love with someone who as opposing political beliefs, but I think sometimes people think just because you’re in a relationship with someone you cosign their politics. And maybe some people do, I don’t know. But people don’t know me.”
Jennifer Lopez is getting candid about a side of herself fans rarely hear about. During a recent podcast appearance, the music star made a surprising confession about her attraction to darker, more emotionally complicated love stories, even admitting one particular movie awakened what she described as the “dark side” of herself.
The revealing moment came while Jennifer Lopez appeared on “Films To Be Buried With,” the podcast hosted by actor Brett Goldstein, her co-star in the upcoming romantic comedy “Office Romance.”
While chatting with Goldstein, Lopez was asked to name “a film you found arousing that you weren’t sure you should.” The singer and actress did not hesitate.
Instead of naming a conventional romance, Lopez pointed to Quentin Tarantino’s cult classic “True Romance,” the violent 1993 film centered around obsessive love, crime, and dangerous chemistry.
“I would have had sex with any one of them,” Lopez admitted about the cast. “Which says a lot about me… maybe like the dark side of me.”
For those unfamiliar, “True Romance” is far from a traditional love story. Written by Tarantino and directed by Tony Scott, the film follows Clarence Worley and Alabama Whitman as their romance spirals into violence, chaos, and crime.
Lopez Was Drawn To The Film’s Dangerous Chemistry
Lopez specifically pointed to a memorable scene involving Patricia Arquette’s Alabama and James Gandolfini’s mobster character, Virgil.
Despite the brutality of the sequence, Lopez admitted she found the emotional and physical intensity strangely compelling. “[Alabama] has a blown-up face for the rest of the movie, but she’s still s-xy. You still want to kind of kiss her on the lips,” Lopez said.
The conversation became even more revealing when Lopez named the 1986 erotic thriller “9½ Weeks” starring Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger as “the sexiest movie” she had ever seen. The film follows a mysterious Wall Street trader who pulls an art gallery employee into an emotionally consuming and psychologically complicated romance.
“[Basinger’s character] knew that it was dark and no good and so mysterious but that’s what made it s-xy and good but also knew it was toxic… You want her to get out of it, but I didn’t want her to get out of it. I loved every moment,” Lopez admitted.
Jennifer Lopez Previously Opened Up About Difficult Relationships
Lopez’s comments come after years of being open about the complicated nature of love in her own life. The actress and singer, who has been married four times and engaged six, previously acknowledged that some of her past relationships crossed troubling boundaries.
“I was never in a relationship where I got beat up, thank God,” Lopez said in her Amazon Prime documentary “The Greatest Love Story Never Told.” “But I’ve definitely been manhandled and a couple of other unsavory things. Rough. Disrespectful.”
In the same documentary, Lopez also reflected on her upbringing and how it shaped the way she searched for love. “I felt very ignored by my dad,” Lopez admitted while discussing her childhood. “I didn’t feel like I had enough of a connection with him.”
“When I was growing up, I was always looking for somebody to make me feel loved,” she added.
Lopez Says Emotional Moment With Father Helped Heal Her
Despite years of heartbreak, Lopez recently revealed that one deeply emotional moment with her father helped her heal in unexpected ways. During the podcast interview, Lopez recalled watching the Brazilian drama “I’m Still Here” with her father while recovering from the flu and navigating the aftermath of her split from Ben Affleck.
As emotions unexpectedly surfaced, Lopez said her father noticed her crying. “Oh baby, what’s wrong?” he asked. “I love you,” he later told her. “I always loved you.”
“It healed a part of me,” Lopez admitted, explaining that the moment helped her move on from “those type of relationships.”
Jennifer Lopez Is Entering A New Chapter After Ben Affleck Divorce
The candid confession arrives during a period of major change for Lopez, who is preparing for an empty nest as twins Max and Emme approach adulthood while continuing to focus on new projects, including music, film, and her next chapter following her divorce from Affleck.
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
Like many Doctor Who fans, my wife and I often debate the most important question of them all: who was the best actor to play the Doctor? She and I both came on board with the 2005 revival, so we don’t have the same passion as veteran fans for classic series actors such as Tom Baker. The source of our debate is quite simple. She prefers David Tennant, whose very human performance made the Tenth Doctor a timey-wimey favorite to fans all over the world. As for myself, I prefer Matt Smith, who tempered his whimsical performances with occasional glimpses of both the tragedy and the darkness that have defined the Doctor’s life.
While both Tennant and Smith give showstopping performances, they each worked for very different showrunners. Russel T. Davies brought Doctor Who back in 2005 and soon transformed David Tennant into a household name. After four seasons, Davies left the show, and Steven Moffat took over. His tenure on the show was quite controversial, and countless fans just wanted Davies to come back. However, Davies did come back for the most recent two seasons, and they were so bad that the show he revived is now canceled again. Now that NuWho is dead for the foreseeable future, the fandom can finally embrace a simple truth: Moffat was the best showrunner Doctor Who ever had!
More Like Doctor Whoa
What made Steven Moffat the best Doctor Who showrunner? For one thing, he delivered episodes that were much more cinematic in nature. The classic series had often cheaped out on special effects, and even in the early years of the revival, Davies relied on some shoddy CGI. Once Moffat took over, episodes started looking more and more like blockbuster films (albeit modestly budgeted ones). Throw in the abundance of excellent two-parters (like “The Pandorica Opens” and “The Big Bang”), and stories often had the runtime of a movie, too. Obviously, this is a matter of aesthetic preference, but I’ll take Moffatt’s cinematic storytelling over Davies’ warmed-over schlock any day of the week.
Speaking of which, Moffat did cool, slow-burning mysteries and reveals better than Davies. Davies often had crazy mysteries (like Bad Wolf) and even crazier reveals (like the Master) that were cool in the moment but made less and less sense the more you thought about them. By comparison, Moffat had meaty mysteries that would keep you on the edge of your seat, including the Pandorica, the Silence, the true nature of River Song, and so much more. In each case, the reveal felt like the rewarding culmination of entire seasons’ worth of build-up. Davies, however, would just show us bonkers stuff and crank out a nonsensical reveal before calling it a day.
The Best Companions, Full Stop
Obviously, a lot of this is a matter of taste. If you don’t care for the mysteries of Moffat, you might be disappointed by how much screentime is devoted to exploring them. Personally, I thought he got the balance of episodic episodes and serialized arcs just right. The unfolding mystery of the Pandorica didn’t keep us from getting standout episodes like “Vincent and the Doctor,” for example, and the mystery of Impossible Girl Clara didn’t keep us from getting bottled brilliance such as “Nightmare in Silver.” Killer standalone episodes and mysteries worthy of TV shows like Lost. Honestly, what more could you want?
If you just said “great characters,” then Steven Moffat still has you covered. Even Doctor Who fans who generally disliked Moffat as showrunner can agree that he brought us some excellent new characters. Amy Pond and Rory are possibly the cutest Companions in franchise history, and they got something most classic Companions never did: their own arcs. Personally, I found their relationship much more compelling than just watching Rose pine for the Doctor in earlier seasons. Plus, under Moffat’s leadership, River gets fleshed out to be a worthy wife for our time-traveling hero. These characters and more got to shine because of how well-written they were from beginning to end.
Gab Man In A Box
That brings me to the last and arguably most compelling reason why Steven Moffat is the best Doctor Who showrunner: the dialogue. Moffat personally wrote a huge number of the episodes under his run, and he gave his characters the wittiest, breeziest banter this side of The West Wing. For as beautifully cinematic as his episodes were, they are almost as enjoyable if you close your eyes entirely and just soak in the weird, found family warmth of the show’s dialogue. Even when Moffat was at his worst (“The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe,” anyone?), he was still writing circles around everyone else.
Long story short? We’re not going to have any new Doctor Who for a while. Possibly a long while; the last hiatus for the show lasted 16 years! There’s no time like the present to go back and watch your favorite episodes of the revival that began in 2005. If you’re someone who hated Steven Moffat’s run back in the day, I encourage you to give him another shot. Every shot is beautiful, every mystery is riveting, and every character is three-dimensional. Throw in dialogue that feels like the lovechild of Joss Whedon and Aaron Sorkin, and you have episodes that can help you do the impossible.
Namely, wash the awful taste of Russell T. Davies’ last two seasons out of your mouth!
Simone Biles is finding comfort in a summer vacation with her husband, Jonathan Owens, less than one week after recuperating from a scary medical emergency.
“A baecation is needed ❤️🔥,” Biles, 29, wrote via Instagram Stories on Saturday, June 13, alongside a photo of the couple’s Goyard and Louis Vuitton designer luggage.
Alongside a follow-up slide of a teal-colored ocean, Biles wrote, “Do not disturb, please & thank you.”
The Olympic gymnastic further offered social media fans glimpses of the couple’s dinner date, where they cuddled close while posing for a selfie.
Jonathan Owens is one proud husband. Owens, 29, gushed over his wife, Simone Biles, the most-decorated gymnast in history after taking home four medals at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, during a Chicago Bears press conference in Chicago on Tuesday, August 6. “It was amazing to watch,” Owens told reporters after Tuesday’s practice with the […]
Biles’ vacation comes nearly one week after she revealed that she suffered an undisclosed health scare that nearly turned fatal.
“I’m not one to normally share things like this because I value privacy in today’s age, but almost dying wasn’t on my bingo card this week,” she wrote via Instagram on June 6. “This was one of, if not the, scariest experience of my life, especially since Jonathan was in Indy for practices.
Owens, 30, signed with the Indianapolis Colts earlier this year and was attending preseason practices during Biles’ hospitalization.
“I’ve been in bed resting this week,” Biles added at the time. “I’ll explain sooner or later, but [shout out] to my close circle who reached out, checked in, visited or sent flowers 🤍🤍🤍. Love y’all.”
Owens, who met Biles in 2020 via celebrity dating app Raya, has not publicly addressed his wife’s medical emergency or recovery, though this is certainly not the first time the couple has navigated adversity.
“It was one of the few times in her life where everything was just shut off and she couldn’t do anything,” Owens told Texas Monthly in 2021 of meeting Biles during the coronavirus pandemic lockdown. “We used it to get to know each other — really get to know each other. It created our bond and made it stronger. Now, I’m so thankful.”
Simone Biles is a certified Barbie bombshell. “Fit of the day,” Biles, 28, wrote via her Instagram Stories on Saturday, July 26, sharing a glimpse of her sizzling swimwear while enjoying her latest beach getaway. The Olympic gymnast stunned in a plunging, pink one-piece with a pair of coordinating, knit boy shorts. For glam, Biles […]
After three years of dating, Biles and Owens said “I do” in 2023. They also remain one another’s biggest cheerleaders in their respective athletic fields.
“It is not much motivation you need to do, just because you don’t want to put extra, added pressure on anyone. I just tell her, ‘Go do your thing, baby,’” Owens exclusively told Us Weekly in July 2024 about going to Biles’ gymnastic meets. “You get a different type of focus whenever you just have this one person that you’re focusing on.”
He continued at the time, “I’ve played a lot better since [meeting Simone]. I’ve just been focused and locked in, and you come home, talk about my day and play with the dogs, you know what I mean? That’s just kind of, like, our thing.”
Whew, Roomies… somebody is outside applying pressure in a way that needs to be studied, because when a certain Puerto Rican Princess steps out, the timeline starts acting up for no reason. And yes, we’re talking about none other than Joseline Hernandez, who just dropped some new flicks that have everybody doing double takes and side-eying their own camera rolls.
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Joseline Hernandez’s Face Card Has No Declines
In new photos shared this weekend, you already know Joseline Hernandez ATE the girls UP. In a photo dump posted to her Instagram, Joseline rocks a gray long-sleeve shirt layered over a white top, serving effortless but still very intentional energy. She paired the look with a sharp pixie cut featuring a sleek side-swept bang moment, gold “Puerto Rican Princess” chain front and center, dangly earrings, and a face card that absolutely does not decline—like at this point, the bank is asking HER for approval.
Fans Rush Comments Over Joseline’s New Look
Fans quickly ran to The Shade Room Instagram comment section to let everybody know exactly how they feel about Joseline Hernandez’s latest look. Some users said the pixie cut is “giving them life” and praised the new style as a fresh slay moment. Others claimed she “stays out mugging,” while plenty of Roomies kept it simple and let nothing but fire emojis do the talking.
One Instagram user @joseline herself commented, “❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️”
This Instagram user @heyimdeo claimed, “It’s not a joke! She is out mugging! 😍😍”
And Instagram user @waveologist shared, “She brought back the “heaux why is u here” pixie cut 🔥”
Meanwhile, Instagram user @angelinaa8694 added, “Shes beautiful but intimidating af“
Then Instagram user @aleslls.e said, “She love a nasty 27 piece wig 😍”
Finally, Instagram user @therealmissflystyles_ wrote, “Joseline never had a bad hair day or makeup day hernendez 😍”
Aunties Are Outside Shutting It Down This Summer
Roomies, these iconic aunties really stay outside giving us LIFE like it’s part of their job description, because every time they step in front of a camera, they remind the girls how it’s done with zero effort and maximum slay. As previously reported, in a video making its rounds online, Da Brat sits in a dressing room as a makeup artist touches up her glam while she serves face, attitude, and nostalgia all at once.
She’s rocking a full head of curly red-toned hair with streaks and a matching denim set that hugs every curve and shows off exactly what her mama blessed her with. Later, Da Brat posted clips from the shoot on her IG and even cracked a joke in the caption, asking, “Why are people reposting this?”—but Roomies, we already know why… because auntie said it’s her world and we’re just scrolling in it.
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What Do You Think Roomies?
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I may love a good designer swimsuit, but I’ve learned that a high price tag isn’t what makes swimwear look expensive. It’s usually the thoughtful details like gold hardware, timeless stripes, flattering cuts and colors that instantly elevate the entire look. That’s exactly what I kept an eye out for while building this list.
Whether I’m planning a beach vacation or just daydreaming about one, I always gravitate toward swimsuits that feel a little more luxurious. These styles deliver the same rich resort aesthetic I’d expect from a much pricier brand, but every option comes in under $50. Ahead, shop my favorite luxe-looking bikinis, one-pieces, and more.
17 Under-$50 Bikinis Nail That Luxe Vacation Style
1. My Favorite: The shoulder knot ties on this striped bikini set give it an elevated look that I love. Plus, the high-waisted bottoms have real tummy control built in. My favorite detail is the striped pattern that feels coastal without trying too hard.
2. Shopper Favorite: The ribbed texture on this U-wire bikini top mimics fabric that usually costs three times as much. The V-neckline plus high-cut bottoms creates a longer, leaner leg appearance.
3. Gold-Detail Favorite: The gold hardware on this ruched swim dress does a lot of the styling work for you. Plus, the ruching through the midsection skims the body nicely.
4. Poolside Glam: I always want coverage that still looks dressed up, and the asymmetric strap design on this ruffle-trim set appeals to both. The color blocking draws the eye up, while the ruffle softens the bottom line.
5. Resort Energy: Finding a suit that works for swimming and the beach club bar is tricky, but this V-neck one-piece nails it. The ruffles distract from the midsection, while the deeper neckline keeps it grown up.
Women with bigger busts know that not all maxi dresses are created equal. Gaping necklines, tight bodices and awkward fits through the chest can quickly ruin an otherwise beautiful dress. Fortunately, a few smart design details can make all the difference. Think supportive smocking, adjustable straps, wrap fronts and silhouettes that create shape without squeezing. […]
6. Coastal Elegance: The oversized bow on the front of this navy one-piece is the styling moment. The navy and white color palette reads classically expensive, like something you’d find in a Nantucket boutique for triple the price.
7. Quietly Expensive: The tied shoulder straps on this color-block one-piece let you adjust the fit while also looking so adorable. And thanks to black and white color blocking, the suit looks quietly expensive.
8. Designer-Looking: The wrap-front detail on this push-up one-piece creates a flattering diagonal line across the midsection. The print reads like something from a designer resort capsule.
9. Beach Club Chic: For a little edge without baring everything, I went with this gold hardware swimsuit that has chic cutouts to show just the right amount of skin. The metal details elevate it from just beachwear to an actual beach club outfit.
10. Pretty Polka Dots: Black and white polka dots on this strapless one-piece have that retro Riviera energy. The strapless cut works under sundresses and shows off shoulders.
11. Euro Summer: The matching sarong on this blue one-piece swimsuit is the upgrade. The coastal toile print across both pieces creates a head-to-toe look that reads like luxe European resort wear.
12. Mediterranean Mood: The gold shell hardware on this cutout ruched swimsuit is the detail that sells the whole look. Color blocking in green and teal shades feels pulled directly from a Capri postcard.
13. Sleek Stripes: While searching for swimwear that work for pool laps and on-deck cocktails, I discovered this stunning striped V-neck suit. The vertical lines make it genuinely slimming.
14. Sporty-Chic: The skirted bottom on this two-piece tankini covers the hip area without a clunky board-short look. A V-neck top with tummy control gives the sportiness a more polished finish.
15. Ravishing Ruffles: The luxe design and slimming ruffle details on this $30 strapless one-piece punch way above its price tag. The strapless cut eliminates tan lines entirely.
16. Seaside Chic: The seashell-textured fabric on this knotted bikini set adds the kind of detail you’d pay $200 for at a resort shop. The knotted front top and ruffle high-waist bottom feel coastal and chic.
17. Classy Coverage: This striped swim dress gives full coverage up top with a cutout at the waist for shape. The dress hem covers the hip area completely, while the stripe pattern keeps it from feeling like a tank top.
You don’t need a beach house in the Hamptons to dress like you have one. The secret to the coastal style is leaning into timeless summer staples like striped button-down shirts, oversized linen tops and easy breezy blouses that always look pulled together. Even better, these flowy silhouettes offer a little extra coverage through the […]
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