Royal watchers learned in October 2025 that King Charles III stripped his younger brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor — formerly known as Prince Andrew — of his royal titles and evicted him from his lavish home.

The former prince’s spectacular fall from grace has been tied to his friendship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Mountbatten-Windsor told BBC’s Newsnight in 2019 that he met Epstein through the disgraced financier’s girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, though he denied any wrongdoing. (Epstein was convicted of procuring a child for prostitution and soliciting a prostitute in 2008 and was later arrested on federal sex trafficking charges weeks before his death by suicide in August 2019. Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking charges.)

In that same 2019 interview, Mountbatten-Windsor insisted he did not regret his friendship with Epstein despite the damage to his reputation.

“Now, [I] still [do] not [regret it] and the reason being is that the people that I met and the opportunities that I was given to learn either by him or because of him were actually very useful,” Mountbatten Windsor told Newsnight. “He himself not, as it were, as close as you might think, we weren’t that close. So therefore I mean, yes, I would go and stay in his house but that was because of his girlfriend, not because of him.”

Related: King Charles Heckled Over Prince Andrew’s Ties to the Late Jeffrey Epstein

King Charles cannot escape the continued media attention on his brother Prince Andrew’s longstanding friendship with the late convicted pedophile, Jeffrey Epstein. “How long have you known about Andrew and Epstein?” an individual shouted at Charles, 76, as the royal greeted the public outside Lichfield Cathedral in Staffordshire on Monday, October 27, per footage shared […]

The fallout from Mountbatten-Windsor’s 2019 interview led him to step back from his royal duties in November 2019, though he was eventually stripped of his titles by King Charles in October 2025 as continual revelations emerged. In February 2026, Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested by Thames Valley Police on his 66th birthday on suspicion of misconduct in public office, with King Charles later calling for a “full, fair and proper process by which this issue is investigated.”

Keep scrolling for more about the way Charles and other royals reacted to Mountbatten-Windsor’s friendship with Epstein.

How Is Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor Connected to Jeffrey Epstein?

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor told BBC Newsnight host Emily Maitlis in a 2019 interview that he met Jeffrey Epstein through the convicted sex offender’s former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell. (Ghislaine’s father, Robert Maxwell, was part of the media establishment in the U.K. as owner of the Daily Mirror and The London Evening News prior to his death at age 68 in 1991.)

While Mountbatten-Windsor never faced criminal charges over his alleged involvement with Epstein, he was sued for sexual assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress by Virginia Giuffre in 2021. Giuffre alleged that Epstein and Maxwell trafficked her to Mountbatten-Windsor following a night at Tramp nightclub in London in 2001.

“I have no recollection of ever meeting this lady, none whatsoever,” Mountbatten-Windsor insisted to Newsnight.

However, Mountbatten-Windsor reached a private settlement with Giuffre in 2022 after she sued him for sexual assault and battery. (He did not admit any fault as part of the settlement agreement though he agreed to make a substantial donation to Speak Out, Act, Reclaim, a charity supporting sex trafficking victims.)

Mountbatten-Windsor claimed that he visited Epstein at his New York penthouse in December 2010 to formally end their friendship. At the time, Epstein had recently completed his 18-month prison sentence for procuring a child for prostitution and soliciting a prostitute.

“I have always … ever since this has happened and since this has become, as it were, public knowledge that I was there, I’ve questioned myself as to why did I go and what was I doing and was it the right thing to do?” Mountbatten-Windsor told Newsnight. “Now, I went there with the sole purpose of saying to him that because he had been convicted, it was inappropriate for us to be seen together.”

Mountbatten-Windsor admitted that he’d had “a number of people counsel” him over whether it was appropriate to visit Epstein’s home in the wake of his conviction.

“I took the judgement call that, because this was serious, and I felt that doing it over the telephone was the chicken’s way of doing it. I had to go and see him and talk to him,” he said.

He added, “I said to [Epstein] … ‘Look, because of what has happened, I don’t think it is appropriate that we should remain in contact,’ and by mutual agreement during that walk in the park we decided that we would part company and I left, I think it was the next day. To this day, I never had any contact with him from that day forward.”

His friendship with Epstein faced a new level of scrutiny when a paparazzi photo from Mountbatten-Windsor and Epstein’s Central Park conversation was published by the New York Post in 2011. As a result of the scandal, Buckingham Palace announced in July 2011 that Mountbatten-Windsor had resigned as a U.K. trade envoy.

Any attempt by Mountbatten-Windsor to put the scandal behind him with his 2019 Newsnight interview failed. The TV special only intensified coverage of the scandal, leading to Mountbatten-Windsor formally stepping back from his royal duties in November 2019.

“It has become clear to me over the last few days that the circumstance relating to my former association with Jeffrey Epstein has become a major disruption to my family’s work and the valuable work going on in the many organizations and charities that I am proud to support,” he said. “Therefore, I have asked Her Majesty if I may step back from public duties for the foreseeable future, and she has given her permission.”

While Mountbatten-Windsor was slowly reintegrated into royal functions a few years later, a new round of allegations erupted with the publication of Andrew Lownie’s tell-all 2025 book Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York.

Multiple U.K. outlets published private emails that Mountbatten-Windsor allegedly sent to Epstein in 2011, which contradicted his statement that he’d cut off communication with the financier after visiting his New York City home in December 2010. In one purported email, the prince allegedly wrote to Epstein that they were “in this together and will have to rise above it.”

Mountbatten-Windsor said in October 2025 that he would stop using his royal title as the Duke of York.

“In discussion with The King, and my immediate and wider family, we have concluded the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family,” Mountbatten-Windsor said in a statement to Us on October 17, 2025. “I have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first. I stand by my decision five years ago to stand back from public life.”

He continued, “With His Majesty’s agreement, we feel I must now go a step further. I will therefore no longer use my title or the honors which have been conferred upon me. As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me.”

Once again, his pledge did little to quiet the scandal, so Buckingham Palace confirmed days later that King Charles III planned to strip his brother of his royal titles and force him to move out of his home at Royal Lodge, which Mountbatten-Windsor acquired in 2003 as part of a “peppercorn lease.”

Later that year, Mountbatten-Windsor was accused of asking his taxpayer-funded security detail to investigate Giuffre prior to their 2022 legal settlement. The Metropolitan Police announced in December 2025 that it would “take no further action” against Mountbatten-Windsor over the historic accusation.

“The Met remains committed to thoroughly assessing any new information that could assist in this matter,” a police spokesperson said.”To date, we have not received any additional evidence that would support reopening the investigation. In the absence of any further information, we will be taking no further action.”

There were new disclosures in January 2026 as part of three million documents released by the Justice Department in compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which included a photo obtained from the Epstein estate of Mountbatten-Windsor kneeling on all fours over an unknown woman. (The Justice Department provided no context on where or when the photo was taken. The unidentified woman’s face was redacted to protect her privacy.)

Mountbatten-Windsor reportedly moved out of Royal Lodge in February 2026. He is residing in a temporary property on his brother Charles’ privately-owned Sandringham estate while his permanent home is undergoing renovations.

Thames Valley Police confirmed to Us on February 19, 2026, that its officers had “arrested a man in his sixties from Norfolk on suspicion of misconduct in public office.” Mountbatten-Windsor’s name was not mentioned in the police statement due to national guidance.

Mountbatten-Windsor stands accused of sharing confidential information with Epstein while acting as a U.K. trade envoy from 2001 to 2011. Per the Crown Protection Service, those found criminally liable of “serious wilful abuse or neglect of the power or responsibilities of the public office held” can face a maximum punishment of life imprisonment.

What Did Queen Elizabeth II Say About Prince Andrew’s Connection to Jeffrey Epstein?

The Telegraph reported that Queen Elizabeth II partially funded her son Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s $16 million settlement to dismiss his sexual assault accuser Virginia Giuffre’s lawsuit in 2022. The queen’s contribution reportedly came from her private Duchy of Lancaster estate so as not to draw criticism about public funds being used.

However, a spokesperson for Queen Elizabeth told People in February 2022 that Buckingham Palace “never commented on the financial aspects of the Duke’s private legal affairs and won’t be now.”

One month earlier, Buckingham Palace revealed that Queen Elizabeth was revoking Mountbatten-Windsor’s military titles. Her rebuke came after more than 150 British military veterans wrote an open letter to the monarch asking her to strip Mountbatten-Windsor of his service awards.

“With the queen’s approval and agreement, the Duke of York’s military affiliations and royal patronages have been returned to the queen,” the palace said in a statement in January 2022. “The Duke of York will continue not to undertake any public duties and is defending this case as a private citizen.”

Queen Elizabeth died at age 96 in September 2002.

How Did King Charles III React to Prince Andrew’s Connection to Jeffrey Epstein?

King Charles III initially held back from addressing the growing scandal around his brother, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, amid new allegations in Andrew Lownie’s bombshell 2025 book Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York.

While Mountbatten-Windsor agreed to stop using his royal title in October 2025, the king finally stepped in days later with his own royal decree. The king confirmed that he was essentially evicting Mountbatten-Windsor from his home at Royal Lodge, where the former prince lived since 2003.

“Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. His lease on Royal Lodge has, to date, provided him with legal protection to continue in residence,” reads a Buckingham Palace statement shared with Us Weekly on October 30, 2025. “Formal notice has now been served to surrender the lease and he will move to alternative private accommodation. These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him.”

In a February 2026 statement, the palace noted, “The King has made clear, in words and through unprecedented actions, his profound concern at allegations which continue to come to light in respect of Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor’s conduct.”

The palace continued, “While the specific claims in question are for Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor to address, if we are approached by Thames Valley Police, we stand ready to support them as you would expect. As was previously stated, Their Majesties’ thoughts and sympathies have been, and remain with, the victims of any and all forms of abuse.”

Following Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest in February 2026, King Charles released a statement confirming that he’d “learned with the deepest concern the news about [the arrest of] Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and suspicion of misconduct in public office.”

“What now follows is the full, fair and proper process by which this issue is investigated in the appropriate manner and by the appropriate authorities. In this, as I have said before, they have our full and wholehearted support and cooperation,” King Charles said in a statement to Us. “Let me state clearly: the law must take its course. As this process continues, it would not be right for me to comment further on this matter. Meanwhile, my family and I will continue in our duty and service to you all.”

How Did Prince Edward React to Prince Andrew’s Connection to Jeffrey Epstein?

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s younger brother, Prince Edward, became the first member of the royal family to personally address the Epstein scandal in February 2025. During a Q&A for the World Governments Summit in Dubai, he was asked how he was “coping” with the continual controversy.

“I think it’s important always to remember the victims,” Prince Edward answered. “And who are the victims in all this? A lot of victims in all this.”

How Did Prince William and Kate Middleton React to Prince Andrew’s Connection to Jeffrey Epstein?

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s nephew Prince William and his wife, Princess Kate Middleton, released a statement as new documents from the Epstein files continued to go public.

“I can confirm The Prince and Princess have been deeply concerned by the continuing revelations,” a spokesperson for the Prince and Princess of Wales shared in February 2026. “Their thoughts remain focused on the victims.”

If you’re wondering whether Glen Powell and Margaret Qualley’s underhyped crime thriller How to Make a Killing is going to deliver anything more than hot-people-doing-crimes energy when it hits theaters this weekend, the easiest answer is hiding in director John Patton Ford’s filmography. Specifically, his last feature, a takedown of capitalism that orchestrated one of the most effective on-screen identity shifts of the last decade. He took Aubrey Plaza – long typecast as pop culture’s patron saint of disaffected, deadpanning weirdos – and turned her into something far more unsettling: a bonafide dramatic threat.

That transformation happened in Emily the Criminal, Ford’s lean, nerve-wracking thriller that doubles as the most honest student-loan horror movie ever made. It’s a film where debt is a living thing, a cancer slowly eating away at a person, forcing them to do uncharacteristically terrible (and clinically insane) things. Plaza plays the titular cash-strapped millennial who stops waiting for capitalism to reward her patience and starts testing how much it’ll let her get away with instead. Emily gives her the performance of her career, but it gives us a preview of how wild, ridiculous, and sharply insightful Ford’s storytelling can be. And now’s the perfect time for a re-watch.

Aubrey Plaza Breaks Bad in ‘Emily the Criminal’

When we first meet Emily Benetto in Emily the Criminal, she’s already losing. She’s $70,000 in student debt, locked out of stable employment by a minor assault charge, and stuck cycling through catering gigs where she delivers artisanal salads to tech workers whose salaries probably equal her loan bill. Early on, she bombs a job interview in spectacular fashion, unable to convincingly perform the optimism employers expect. It’s a small scene, but it establishes everything: Emily isn’t failing because she lacks ambition or ability, but because the system is rigged against her.

Her entry into crime happens almost accidentally. A coworker connects her with a low-level fraud ring run by Youcef (Theo Rossi), who recruits financially desperate young people to act as “dummy shoppers.” The job is simple: use a fake credit card to purchase expensive electronics, hand them off, and walk away with a few hundred dollars. Emily’s first attempt is shaky, but when it ends with her walking out of the store with cash in hand anyway, something shifts.

From there, the film turns the WTF meter all the way up to 10. Emily becomes more involved in Youcef’s operation, moving from small retail scams to higher-risk thefts that involve luxury cars and violent confrontations. But nothing deters her, and by the end of this thing, Emily’s become a twisted form of what the system wanted all along: an adaptable, opportunistic, ruthless entrepreneur driven by the bottom line. She is, finally, good at her job.

A Comedy Icon Becomes a Crime Thriller Antiheroine

Image via Roadside Attractions

Before Emily the Criminal, Plaza had perfected a very specific magic trick: making antisocial detachment aspirational. She delivered punchlines like she was doing audiences a favor by participating at all. Her run as April Ludgate on Parks and Recreation is still the clearest example of that. April treated every job and every interaction with an authority figure like mildly annoying inconveniences. She openly resented her coworkers, blankly endured small talk, and did it all with such flat calm that it somehow made it even funnier than if she’d pushed for the laugh. Emily the Criminal takes that familiar detachment and, for the first time, treats it as a survival skill instead of a joke.

Plaza plays Emily with blunt practicality. She never pushes you to sympathize with Emily, but she does make you understand how Emily justifies each step of her criminal undertaking. She pays attention. She listens. She adapts. And Plaza plays everything so controlled that you’re always guessing how Emily will handle the next risky grift-gone-wrong. It marks a clear shift in how the actress uses her screen presence. The same deadpan restraint that once made her feel aloof now makes her unpredictable, in the best way. As the film’s director, Ford didn’t create that ability, but he did build a vehicle that allowed her to use it fully.

In How to Make a Killing, you can see Ford playing with the same ideas he explored in Emily the Criminal. His characters don’t suddenly snap into moral gray zones, they slide into them, adjusting their reasoning until things that once seemed unthinkable start to feel like the most obvious choice. Sometimes, committing a crime is the best kind of problem-solving.

The Thread Between Ford’s Films

At least, that’s what Powell’s character believes. He plays Becket Redfellow, a working-class guy from New Jersey with a seriously complicated family history. His mother, Mary, was disowned by her ultra-wealthy upstate New York family when she got pregnant with him. On her deathbed, she tells him one line that drives the whole movie: “Get the life you deserve.” That’s basically Becket’s north star. Fast forward to adulthood, and Becket runs into his childhood crush, Julia (Qualley), who grew up in that same rich world. The reunion stirs something in him, and he starts poking around his family. Long story short: he figures that if he starts bumping off the Redfellow clan, he could end up inheriting the fortune he’s technically owed. It’s a black comedy crime story, but it’s smart about its social commentary. Ford finds ways to layer in critiques of class, capitalism, and the weird ways people justify wanting more than what they have in between the comedic mishaps and half-assed murder plots.

Its tie to Emily the Criminal is that both films are about characters who are pushed into morally gray spaces by circumstance. And in both cases, the thrill comes less from the crime itself and more from watching someone figure out how to survive and manipulate a system that’s stacked against them. Ford gets that. That’s why his work with Plaza was so electric, and why his new film is worth keeping an eye on. He understands that desperation can fuel some pretty fantastic cinematic fireworks.

Emily the Criminal is available to stream on Tubi in the U.S.

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Emily the Criminal

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August 12, 2022

Runtime

97 Minutes

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John Patton Ford

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John Patton Ford

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It’s National Margarita Day, so we’re serving up a Hollywood hottie who knows her tequila. Toss back these clues and see if you can spit out the celebrity name!

She ain’t no housewife, but she may act desperate. She launched her tequila brand in 2021.

Nicki Minaj is the proud owner of a Bible autographed by President Donald Trump.

The “Big Foot” rapper, 43, showed off the autographed holy book via X on Saturday, February 21, calling it “one of the most meaningful gifts [she had] ever received in [her] entire life.” The cover of this “God Bless The USA” version of the Holy Bible is marketed as the “Donald J. Trump, 45th President of the United States of America, Signature Edition.”

Trump, 79, officially endorsed the “God Bless the USA” edition of the Bible — a compilation created by country singer Lee Greenwood — in March 2024 and sold copies for $59.99. It comes with the Pledge of Allegiance, Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence interspersed with traditional Bible verses.

“I want to have a lot of people have [this bible],” Trump said in a promotional video for the “God Bless the USA” edition. “You have to have it for your heart and for your soul.”

Related: Nicki Minaj Speaks Out About Creditor Making Moves to Seize L.A. Mansion

Nicki Minaj is speaking about the man attempting to seize her $20 million Los Angeles mansion in an effort to collect on a $500,000 debt the rapper and her husband, Kenneth Petty, owe. On Wednesday, October 15, Minaj, 42, posted a series of messages on X about her legal drama with Thomas Weidenmuller. Weidenmuller, who […]

In that same video, Trump said the “God Bless the USA” Bible was his “favorite book” and urged his supporters to read it.

“Many of you have never read [the Bill of Rights] and don’t know the liberties and rights you have as Americans, and how you are being threatened to lose those rights … It’s happening all the time. It’s a very sad thing that’s going on in our country but we’re going to get it turned around,” he claimed in 2024. “Religion and Christianity are the biggest things missing from this country, and I truly believe that we need to bring them back and we have to bring them back fast.”

Minaj has become one of Trump’s most prominent public supporters, having even described herself as the president’s “number one fan” while joining him at a Treasury Department summit in Washington D.C. in January 2026.

Minaj’s association with Trump has proved to be controversial among some of her fans and within the music community. Comedian Mike Epps apologized to Minaj earlier this month for joking that she was “having a train run on her by Donald Trump and them” during a live show in Kentucky.

“I just want to apologize to you, Nicki Minaj, for saying the stuff that I said,” he later said via his Instagram Story. “I want to apologize to your husband, your kids, all that for saying what I said.”

The comedian went on, “I’m a comedian. Sometimes I get on that stage, and I have a little drink, and I go wild. I’m non-filtered.”

Last year, the rapper aligned herself with Turning Point USA, a conservative activist group founded by the late Charlie Kirk. (Kirk was fatally shot during a campus event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, on September 10, 2025. Tyler James Robinson has been arrested in connection with the shooting but has not yet entered a plea.)

Minaj appeared on stage with Charlie’s widow, Erika Kirk (née Frantzve), at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest in Phoenix, Arizona, in December 2025. During that event, Minaj committed an embarrassing faux pas by telling young men they had “amazing role models like the assassin, JD Vance, our vice president.”

The musician stopped mid-sentence and then covered her face, seemingly in embarrassment. Erika attempted to lighten the mood by assuring Minaj that she took no offense to the “assassin” joke.

“Trust me, there’s nothing new under the sun that I have not heard,” Kirk replied with a laugh. “So, you’re fine. I love you [and] you have to laugh about it — truly. I have been called every single thing, and you know what? God is so good, you let it roll right off your back.”

Vance, 41, later attempted to reframe the event and defend Minaj via X.

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Related: Alleged Victim of Nicki Minaj’s Husband Breaks Silence in $500K Debt Battle

The man who is owed $500,000 by Nicki Minaj and her husband, Kenneth Petty, exclusively spoke to Us Weekly about his efforts to seize the rapper’s home. On Wednesday, October 15, Paul Saso, who represents Thomas Weidenmuller, told Us, “Judgments are not optional. Mr. Weidenmuller obtained a valid judgment, and like any judgment creditor, he […]

“Nicki Minaj said something at Amfest that was really profound,” Vance tweeted. “I’m paraphrasing, but she said, ‘Just because I want little Black girls to think they’re beautiful doesn’t mean I need to put down little girls with blonde hair and blue eyes.’”

The vice president continued, “We all got wrapped up over the last few years in zero sum thinking. This was because the people who think they rule the world pit us against one another. @NICKIMINAJ rejects that. We all should.”

War is a genre that is more commonly explored in movies than on television, but it has been on the rise recently, thanks to the trend of on-demand viewing and streaming services. Numerous great TV shows and miniseries have emerged in the war genre, exploring a vast array of conflicts and showcasing the darkest moments in world history. They’ve attracted their fair share of fans because there’s something strangely fascinating about witnessing even a small drop of the destruction and damage that humankind is really capable of.

Most of these war-themed TV shows that have come out are good, but some, especially in the last decade or so, have surpassed all expectations and blown every other series out of the water. Whether it’s the distant past or even the last 100 years or so, these war-themed TV shows have done pretty much everything right, without missing a beat, making them genuinely perfect in every sense of the word.

6

‘SAS: Rogue Heroes’ (2022–Present)

Image via BBC

The United Kingdom’s Special Air Service, or SAS, is known for being one of the oldest and most elite special forces units in the world. It has its roots in the Second World War, where it was formed for desert operations in North Africa. The SAS stands strong today, often conducting high-risk counter-terrorism operations for the Crown, becoming famous after they defused a hostage crisis at the Iranian embassy in London in 1980. SAS: Rogue Heroes is a TV series that takes audiences way back to the origins of the group, allowing them to see how the group formed under immense pressure during World War II.

During the world’s deadliest conflict, the SAS was responsible for conducting a series of dangerous raids on critical Axis military installations, often involving sabotage operations to slow the flow or production of weapons and supplies. This series is absolutely brilliant in the way it depicts the SAS, especially with how it puts names to faces and makes the original unit members feel more life-like. There’s so much chemistry between the main cast, and the show features some great action to boot. While there have only been two seasons so far, a third is expected to be released sometime soon, since a third season was greenlit in 2025. What audiences have gotten so far, though, is really remarkable, and lets audiences see the high-stakes operations conducted by the unit, as well as the immense bravery its members showed.

5

‘The Narrow Road to the Deep North’ (2025)

Image via Prime Video

The Narrow Road to the Deep North is an Australian miniseries set during the Second World War that remains criminally underrated. Despite critical scores that were pretty much perfect, many still have yet to tune into this masterwork of television. The Narrow Road stars Jacob Elordi as Dorrigo, an Australian man who is deployed into the Second World War and is eventually taken prisoner in the Far East. The series later fast-forwards to several decades after the war. Throughout the episodes, one plot point stands strong: Jacob’s forbidden love affair with his own aunt.

Granted, he and his aunt aren’t related by blood, but that only makes it marginally less weird, and certainly doesn’t make it okay. However, the series is based on a 2013 novel, which was very successful, so it would seem that many are into the plot. Even though it is kind of icky, the series is definitely well-made, and hits all the beats of not only being a fantastic war TV show, but a fantastic drama miniseries too. At only five episodes, it doesn’t waste a second of screentime. It’s perfectly paced and perfectly executed, and you need to watch it if you haven’t already.

4

‘The Tattooist of Auschwitz’ (2024)

Image via Peacock

The Tattooist of Auschwitz isn’t a place to find heroic stories of excellence or battle prowess. Instead, this miniseries is a harrowing reminder of the Holocaust, the most well-documented and deadliest genocide in human history. The Holocaust is a pretty famous event, one that really doesn’t need any introduction, as many know about it already. But for the unaware or uninitiated, the Holocaust was the systematic murder of millions of people, primarily Jewish people, across Nazi-occupied Europe. The genocide is closely intertwined with the Second World War.

Auschwitz-Birkenau is infamous for being one of the most active death camps during the genocide, with over one million people meeting their deaths within its walls. This series is about historical figure Lali Sokolov, played by Harvey Keitel. Sokolov was a Jewish inmate whose job was to tattoo identification numbers on the arms of other inmates, hence the title. Based on a 2018 novel of the same name, this series is a sobering reminder of the cruelty and oppression that came with the Third Reich, and the unimaginable suffering millions of people endured under its shadow. Despite this, the series is brilliant in every way. Not only is it well-made, but it’s also a fresh reminder that human cruelty really has no limits.

3

‘Chief of War’ (2025–Present)

Image via Apple TV+

Hollywood actor Jason Momoa has never been shy about his Hawaiian ancestry, and often incorporates elements of Hawaiian culture into his roles. However, no project of his has ever really let his roots shine more than Apple TV’s Chief of War. This series follows a conflict that likely has never been explored in cinema or television before. It occurred at the end of the18th century, when the Kingdoms of the Hawaiian Islands were fractured into a state of civil war, and had yet to be assimilated into the United States. This happened under the rule of Kamehameha I, who actually makes an appearance in the show, played by Kaina Makua.

Jason Momoa plays historical figure Ka’iana, a Hawaiian warrior who spent some time abroad, only to return and join the current civil conflict plaguing the Hawaiian islands. As the four kingdoms of Maui, Oahu, Kauai, and Hawaii are at each other’s throats, Ka’iana leads a rebellion against Kamehameha I in a bloody campaign that lasted almost three decades. With versions in both English and Hawaiian, it is clear that this series is a major passion project for Jason Momoa, who also serves as one of the show’s executive producers and co-creators. Whenever an actor or showrunner truly cares about something, it definitely translates to the audience. Viewers can feel the love that went into it, and it results in a historical drama full of action, adventure, and a glimpse into a piece of the past that has long since been forgotten. Each episode is pretty much perfect, and it’s left viewers hungry for more.

2

‘Barbarians’ (2020–2022)

Image Via Netflix

Barbarians is a German Netflix series that is set during the First Century CE, when the newly-formed Roman Empire began to invade Germania. In these untamed wilds, many local tribes, including the famous Teutons, put aside their feuds and differences to fight the Roman invaders. The Germanic tribes went down in history for giving the Romans a really hard time, completely halting their invasion and driving the disciplined Roman military back.

Even though it only lasted two seasons, the war series is a bona fide masterpiece in every way. The action is exciting, and the series portrays the conflict from both sides. The violence is brutal and unflinching, and the famous Battle of Teutoburg Forest is depicted in full display, allowing audiences to really experience this important, yet often overlooked, piece of European history. It’s exciting, heart-wrenching, and inspiring all in one package.

1

‘Shōgun’ (2024–Present)

Image via Hulu

Shōgun has been super popular since it came out, and the excitement about it has scarcely died down. Based on a massive novel by James Clavell, there really isn’t all that much truth to the story of Shōgun. In fact, most of the events, characters, and feuds are entirely fictional. But that hasn’t slowed down its popularity. In truth, most of the things in Shōgun are based on true events and historical figures, but only loosely. The series is set at the onset of the Edo Period, a time commonly known as Feudal Japan. This period of Japanese history was marked by constant strife, political upheaval, societal unrest, civil war, and rebellions, and is practically synonymous with the legendary class of noble warriors known as the samurai.

This Hulu and FX joint project really made waves when it came out. It’s not the first TV adaptation of James Clavell’s novel, but it is undoubtedly the best. There isn’t a single wasted frame in this series, which is why it earned such fantastic critical and audience reviews. In fact, it was so successful that what was planned to be a miniseries eventually got a second season, which is expected to come out fairly soon. This is one of the greatest TV shows of any genre in recent years, with great action, romance, drama, and political intrigue. It’s definitely a 10 out of 10, although many viewers would likely give it a higher score if they could.

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Release Date

2024 – 2026-00-00

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Directors

Fred Toye, Jonathan van Tulleken, Charlotte Brändström, Takeshi Fukunaga, Hiromi Kamata

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Rachel Kondo

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Rebecca Gayheart is acknowledging the GoFundMe set up in an effort to support her children in the wake of their father Eric Dane’s untimely death.

Gayheart, 54, shared multiple throwback family photos with Dane and their two daughters via her Instagram Stories on Saturday, February 21, while linking to the GoFundMe campaign meant to financially support their kids after Dane died following a brief battle with ALS. He was 53.

“Thank you to everyone,” the widow wrote next to a screenshot of the fundraiser and a link for fans and followers to donate.

Us Weekly confirmed the former Grey’s Anatomy and Euphoria star’s death on Thursday, February, 19.

“With heavy hearts, we share that Dane passed on Thursday afternoon following a courageous battle with ALS,” a statement from his family read. “He spent his final days surrounded by dear friends, his devoted wife and his two beautiful daughters, Billie and Georgia, who were the center of his world. Throughout his journey with ALS, Eric became a passionate advocate for awareness and research, determined to make a difference for others facing the same fight.”

The message continued, “He will be deeply missed and lovingly remembered always. Eric adored his fans and is forever grateful for the outpouring of love and support he’s received. The family has asked for privacy as they navigate this impossible time.”

Dane announced he was diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, in April 2025, nearly one year before he died. The progressive neurodegenerative disease destroys motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord, per the Mayo Clinic, leading to muscle weakness, atrophy and eventual paralysis. There is no known cure.

“I’ve always had a sense of humor about this,” Dane said of his diagnosis while appearing in a Famous Last Words interview, what turned out to be the late actor’s final interview before his death. (The interview aired on Netflix the day after Dane died.) “It’s really kind of interesting what’s happening to my body. The mechanics of this disease is pretty interesting to me. It’s when you zoom in and look at how it affects the individual moments is when it can actually bring you down a little bit.”

He continued at the time, “My spirit has been surprisingly pretty buoyant through this journey. I have no idea, there’s no reason for me to be happy in any individual moment, but I am, The progression of this thing is really just remarkable. You know, I’m pretty sure I sound pretty good too, but to me, I feel like I sound like a frog.”

A GoFundMe campaign was set up to support the actor’s family in the wake of his death — a move Dane’s friend, Mike McGuiness, later defended via social media.

“My friend of almost two decades just let us after a brutal battle with ALS,” McGuiness wrote via Instagram on Friday, February 20. “I’m the positive spin guy and can come up with something hopeful in most any situation. This one broke me.”

McGuiness continued, “COVID and ALS did a number on his work life and he, sadly, couldn’t leave his family with the resourced he had hoped. A GoFundMe is being made and I will post it on my story for anyone able to help.”

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Dane’s ALS Diagnosis And His Advocacy Efforts

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Dane’s Advice On Friendship And Fighting With Dignity

Within the pages of Marvel Comics, there is a small army of heroes with amazing powers that they use to fight crime and protect the world. We will not be covering any of those characters today. Instead, we’ll take a tour of the lesser-known characters with powers that can be described as different, unique, or more bluntly, bad.

Sometimes, a terrible power doesn’t mean the character is bad, as their story can be about navigating life with an ability that feels more like a curse than a blessing. Ranging from one-shot characters that were better left forgotten to the beloved oddities roaming the Marvel Comics universe, these are the Marvel Comics “superheroes” with the worst powers.

10

ForgetMeNot

Makes people forget he ever existed

Image via Marvel Comics

If you’re able to remember the X-Men ForgetMeNot, then his power is temporarily not working. A loyal member of the X-Men, ForgetMeNot has fought alongside the mutant team in some of the greatest Marvel Comics storylines, but his ability to be forgotten the moment he leaves someone’s line of sight leaves him as an unsung ally. This ability also makes him undetectable to modern technology such as radar systems, and he can slip by powerful psychics without being noticed.

There is a use to ForgetMeNot’s powers, but for the mutant himself, his abilities leave him isolated and depressed. One of the few to remember ForgetMeNot was Professor X, but that required the telepath to create a psychic reminder in order to stay in contact. Physical traces of ForgetMeNot’s presence could be noticed, such as when he used supplies, so while the X-Men could conceivably prove his existence, there would never be a memory of meeting him or his contributions.

9

Maggott

It’s about as bad as you suspect

Image via Marvel Comics

When a character is named Maggott, there’s a certain level of expectation that goes along with it. The mutant hero doesn’t disappoint, boasting the ability to release slug-like cheaters from his abdomen that ingest anything within seconds. After chowing down, the slugs return to burrow back into Maggott, and he draws power from what they ate. More than an individual hero, Maggott is almost a self-contained super team when taking into account the many services his slugs provide.

Maggott’s level of strength and size is directly related to the amount of energy his slugs, named Eany and Meany, consume. More than just revolting food delivery vessels, Eany and Meany are also able to heal Maggott as needed, giving the mutant an edge in battle that all the other non-slug-owning characters don’t have. Maggott proves that there truly are endless variations of mutant powers that exist.

8

Skin

Can manipulate his loose skin

Image via Marvel Comics

There are X-Men with the coolest mutant powers in the Marvel Universe, and then there are those with the weirdest. The X-Men character Skin poses this question by using his six feet of extra skin to aid him in helping mutants fight for equality. Real name Angelo Espinosa, Skin is able to manipulate his durable but loose grey skin into different shapes and can alter his face, limbs, and body into different sizes.

A founding member of Generation X, Skin is useful offensively by wrapping up his opponents in his skin, and he can also be an asset defensively by shielding his teammates with reinforced epidermis. The stretchy mutant was introduced as a student learning how to control his powers, and with effort, Skin can now maintain a physical form that resembles his fellow mutants. However, if he were to completely relax, he would more closely resemble a melting candle, which could always work to distract Magneto for a few seconds.

7

Human Top (David Mitchell)

He spins

Image via Marvel Comics

While delivering flowers to a hospital, teen David Mitchell is taken hostage by the villain Agent Axis, and after receiving an electric surge of power while strapped to a surgical device, he becomes the Human Top. Now bestowed with the power to spin at superspeed, he became a member of the Kid Commandos, a group that fought Nazis in America.

When a bank is being robbed, or a plane is falling out of the sky, how many times has someone said, “I wish there were someone who could spin fast to save the day”? Probably never, but for all problems that require spinning, there is the Human Top, spinning around without ever getting dizzy. The power is so limited in scope that there’s not much of a way to apply it long-term, which is why this obscure character had limited appearances.

6

Fluff

Makes belly button lint on command

Image via Marvel Comics

No one owns a V-neck outfit that goes as low as the one on Fluff. Of course, the hero needs his naval exposed, because that’s where he expels large amounts of belly button lint that he can alter the chemical composition of. Additionally, his coat of “bio fluff” provides a natural defense system that protects him from all manner of projectiles. At least, that’s what Fluff said, and it could have been a Fluff bluff considering how little is known about him.

Possibly as a means to compensate for having a ridiculous power, Fluff considers himself a ladies’ man, hitting on anyone around him regardless of the situation. It’s a power that seems silly, but depending on the control he has over the chemical composition, Fluff could be a dangerous character to face in battle (or a potentially funny MCU hero). There had to have been a few criminals who stopped and said, “Wait, is he shooting something out of his stomach,” and then were quickly wrapped in belly glue.

5

Gin Genie

Alcohol-powered vibrations

Image via Marvel Comics

Most heroes would consider drinking before going into battle a bad idea (except for Wolverine, probably), but for Gin Genie, it was a necessity. Once inebriated, Gin Genie, real name Beckah Parker, could generate large-scale vibrations proportional to how much she drank. A night of heavy drinking for Gin Genie could result in an earthquake of a disastrous degree. For Beckah, the source of her power was also killing her, as she had developed a dependency on alcohol that was destroying her mind and body alike.

Gin Genie was a short-lived hero, literally, as a member of the revamped X-Force that reimagined the team as celebrity-obsessed superheroes that were as concerned with their merchandise sales as they were saving lives. By the time we are introduced to Gin Genie, she has become increasingly unstable, paranoid that her teammates were out to sabotage her. The X-Force was a highly dysfunctional group, and the inclusion and enablement of Gin Genie was a prime example of the team’s ethics.

4

Bailey Hoskins

Can explode exactly one time

Image via Marvel Comics

In a crowded lineup of mutant characters, it takes having a particularly bad power to be known as ‘The Worst X-Man,’ but such is the case for Bailey Hoskins. Bailey has the unfortunate ability of self-detonation, but he does not have the power to heal from the explosion. Bailey will not have the opportunity to explode more than once, because he will be too dead to do it a second time.

For anyone who thinks they know who the weakest X-Men character is, Bailey lowers the bar. After learning what he could do from Hank “Beast” McCoy, even Bailey himself says his power is essentially like not having a superpower at all. The power to explode one time is less a superpower and more a very bad option. Like jumping into a wood chipper is an option, but it’s a bad one, and no one would wear a costume bragging about the ability to do it.

3

Soft Serve

Poops ice cream

Image via Marvel Comics

To be fair, Soft Serve is a mutant who has never jumped into battle with Wolverine or Storm, but that’s only because they never had a need for her power, which was pooping ice cream. The power has never been fully illustrated on a double-page layout, but Soft Serve’s abilities extend to virtually any flavor of ice cream. Despite her flavor flexibility, no one should expect yogurt or gelato from the mutant.

Soft Serve only has two appearances in Marvel Comics, both in a minor capacity, but the reputation of what she does and where she does it makes her a name not to be forgotten. Amazingly, Soft Serve isn’t the only Marvel character with ice cream powers, as there is also a villain named Eye-Scream who can turn himself into any flavor of the dessert. The two haven’t faced off in the books, but we’ll probably get to see it on the big screen during the third reboot of the MCU.

2

Almighty Dollar

The ability to shoot pennies

Image via Marvel Comics

Once upon a time, Marvel Comics partnered with the NFL to make a football-themed superhero known as SuperPro. A comic book starring the hero didn’t last long, but the peculiar footnote in the history of the publishing company also gifted us another obscure hero called the Almighty Dollar. After CPA J. Pennington Pennypacker is exposed to a machine that hands out awful superpowers, he gains the ability to shoot pennies.

Where exactly do the pennies come from? Does it hurt to shoot the pennies? Are they considered legal currency? None of these questions were answered because the Almighty Dollar, who doesn’t shoot dollars, only appeared in the one issue. He either retired while he was ahead or was immediately killed the first time he faced an entry-level supervillain who was impervious to pennies, which describes every villain, including ones who haven’t been created yet.

1

Hindsight Lad

The “power” of hindsight

Image via Marvel Comics

By day, Carlton LaFroyge is an obnoxious teen with delusions of grandeur. As Hindsight Lad, he is still all of those things, but now wearing a costume. Possessing no actual superpowers, Carlton gives himself the power of hindsight as a member of the New Warriors. Wearing a costume that sags where the muscles would be, Hindsight Light offers his services to review what the New Warriors did and give them tips on how to improve.

The only way Carlton got his spot in the New Warriors was by learning that Speedball was his neighbor, Robbie Baldwin. Carlton then annoyed Robbie with requests to join the team, only to be told no because of the complete lack of powers. Undaunted, Carlton said he would reveal Robbie’s identity if he wasn’t allowed to join the team, and the rest was history. So really, Hindsight Lad’s power is blackmail, and that’s more useful than hindsight.

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