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The Traitors Season 4 Finalists Break Down That Savage Finale (Excl)

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Are you a Faithful or a Traitor — or just obsessed with Peacock’s latest reality TV megahit? Here at Us Weekly, we’re 100 percent faithful to the only game show that pits Housewives against “gamers” and actual Olympians, with hosting duties carried out by the ever-glamorous Alan Cumming (who’s won four Emmys for his trouble).

Season 4 of The Traitors upped the ante with new twists and turns, leading to perhaps the most savage finale in Ardross Castle history. To recap: After banishing figure skater Johnny Weir, the final four — Love Island’s Maura Higgins, Olympic gold medalist Tara Lipinski, K-pop star Eric Nam and Love Island USA’s Rob Rausch — convened for their last vote. Rob, a Traitor from the beginning, had recruited Eric to his side late in the game after the banishments of original Traitors Donna Kelce, Lisa Rinna and Candiace Dillard Bassett, while Maura and Tara were the last two Faithfuls standing.

After the group unceremoniously banished Tara, Rob mercilessly played his last two costars against each other, convincing them both that he planned to go all the way with them and split the cash prize. Unbeknownst to Maura, this wasn’t possible, as he was a Traitor all along, while Eric was collateral damage in Rob’s scorched-earth plan to convince Maura she could trust him. The season ended with Rob coming out on top, winning $220,800 after throwing all of his allies under the bus.

Shortly after the cast taped this year’s reunion, Us Weekly sat down with Rob, Maura, Eric, Tara and late lamented gamer Natalie Anderson to unpack season’s 4 cold-blooded betrayals — and got the bottom of whether the smoked salmon was really that good.

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2611 Us Weekly Cover Digital No Chip Traitors
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A Snake in the Grass

Rob is the first Traitor and first solo player to win the show since Survivor legend Cirie Fields, also a Traitor, in season 1. Viewers — and some costars — initially underestimated the Alabaman snake wrangler as a smooth-brained himbo, but it soon became clear that his gameplay was some of the best Ardross Castle has ever seen.

Rob Rausch: I wanted to be a Traitor when they explained the rules to me. I clearly realized that the Traitors have every single piece of information that you need to win the game. It just comes down to your skill set. Like, there’s no excuse to lose the game if you’re a Traitor.
Maura Higgins: [When you see me find out Rob is a Traitor], you can clearly see I am in total disbelief. I’m in shock. I don’t think I’ve ever felt like that ever in my life. I genuinely always have something to say, and I just froze. I couldn’t even speak. I kept thinking, “I’m waiting for him to say, ‘Joking!’” I genuinely thought, “OK, this has gone on too long. Just tell me you’re joking now.” And he just didn’t say it. And then it finally sunk in, and I was just genuinely in shock. I just believed he was a Faithful the whole time.
Eric Nam: I was so sad and angry [when Rob admitted it]. More than anything, I was just really disappointed, because Rob and I had built a rapport in our relationship — not just when I became a Traitor, but from the beginning. Once I became a Traitor, that only became stronger, and it was kind of like we were able to communicate without even using words. And I was like, “You know what? We’re good. I think we’re gonna be fine.” And then when he turned, I felt so dumb and stupid and honestly disappointed, but at the same time, I’m like, “You know what? Great gameplay, great game.” He was a snake. I always like to give people the benefit of the doubt. When you’re in this game and you’re immersed for so long, sometimes you forget that people are still here to play the game. And I think perhaps I trusted him a little too much.
Rob: [Before the final vote], Maura came to me and made me promise to her that I was going to vote Eric out because she thought he was a Traitor. And that’s when I was like, “OK, I have to do this.” Because yes, given the opportunity, I’m going to take the money for myself. I love Eric. He’s a great guy. But at the end of the day, he’s a stranger. I knew him for three weeks. Like, what are we talking about? … It just wasn’t a risk I was willing to take — I had the game locked up. Why would I not just finish out strong?
Maura: In my head, I kept thinking like, “Oh, my God, imagine if it was Rob. But then what if he is a Faithful and then I turn on him, and then I have the biggest regret and I’ve trusted him the whole way through the show? Am I really gonna turn on him now and not believe him?” I just genuinely believed he was a Faithful. I think he played a fantastic game, and he is an incredible liar.

The Traitors


Related: ‘The Traitors’ Season 4 Finale Recap: Who Won — And How Much Money?

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Reality TV stars and celebrities join Peacock’s The Traitors to see which Faithfuls can expose all the Traitors — but who ended up banished and murdered in season 4 as a result? Inspired by Dutch series De Verraders (which previously led to a popular UK version), The Traitors brings together a group of celebs, especially […]

It Was All a Game

Rob betrayed all of his allies on his path to victory, while Tara and Natalie let their sniping with each other get in the way of an organized strike. So how is everyone feeling now?

Tara Lipinski: I love Natalie! And now we have kept in touch and formed a really nice relationship.
Natalie Anderson: I feel like [Tara and I] could have done something and we could have won. But it doesn’t make it super personal.
Rob: Me and Eric are cool. Eric understands it’s a game. He said it took him a few days, but he got over it, and we’re cool. [With Maura], she took it like a champ, and she said she would have done the same thing, but it was hard because she really trusted me.
Eric: We’re good. It took a day or two for me to be like, “Wow, that was a crazy experience. And I can’t believe that I once again trusted somebody and I got completely stabbed in the back.” But Rob sent me a message after filming, and I think it just said, like, “My fault, G,” and I was like, “That’s just him.” At the end of the day, it’s a game, and I can’t be mad at him for playing a really good game. We’re friends, we’ve remained friends, we will stay friends. And I’m really happy for him.
Maura: Me and Tara are absolutely fine. We talk all the time. [With Rob], I’m not taking it to heart. It’s not real life to me — he was chosen as a Traitor. He’s not allowed to tell anyone, and he played an incredible game, so I can’t be mad at that. I can only be mad at myself for trusting the wrong person. He told me he’s going to get me a gift, which is going to be a Birkin handbag. So when he gets that, then he’s fully forgiven.
Rob: That is in the works. I’m in cahoots with Lisa. She said she could probably get my foot in the door so I can buy one. It’s proving way more difficult than I thought it would be.

The Traitors Season 4 Finalists Break Down That Savage Finale 3

The cast of ‘The Traitors’ season 4.
Danny Ventrella/Peacock

Know Your Enemy — Or Don’t

Traitors contestants prepare for the game in various ways — watching old episodes, or in Dorinda Medley’s case, reading The Art of War — but season 4’s finalists took a somewhat more laid-back approach to the process.

Rob: I attempted to watch an episode with my best friend, and I just couldn’t get into it. I’ve been on Love Island, so I realized what you see is only a fraction of the whole story anyway, so I knew it wouldn’t really help me in the long run. This is a game that is completely based on the people you’re with and the connections you make and understanding those people, so there’s really no point in making a strategy until you’re in the game.
Tara: I watched season 3, but no other preparation! I never thought it would be as hard as it was. I made friends with everyone, and it was very hard for me to switch to harsh gameplay and not just follow my heart.
Natalie: I obviously studied the game.
Eric: When you get to the castle, you realize that unless you’re a Traitor, you really can’t have much strategy. The Faithful are so blind we have no idea what’s going on, and production does such a good job of keeping us completely confused the entire time that it’s really, really hard to have a strategy.
Rob: [Early in the game], we were going after people who were intellectually threatening, pretty much the people that I thought were the smartest and that could put two and two together — people that didn’t trust me. Like Mark [Ballas], Natalie — we left a lot of people in the game that I thought were very smart and strategic, but I think that they were blinded by our relationship to a degree that it wasn’t a risk to keep them in the game. Kristen [Kish] as well. There were quite a few people that were very smart that trusted me.
Maura: I had no strategy. I’m not gonna lie about it — I had zero strategy. I was learning every single day I was in there, and I was just like, “You know what? I’m gonna go in, serve some looks, hopefully stay in maybe for a week, make some friends and that’s it.”
Eric: [Maura] literally did nothing. Maura Higgins is that bitch, because she can literally do whatever she wants, and she’s fine — she was always protected. She literally would just be carried everywhere. We would just look at each other like, “We’re so f***ing good at this game.” And I was like, “Maura, you might be the best player, because you haven’t done a single thing, you haven’t lifted a finger, and somehow you’re in the final.”

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100 Percent Salmon

Viewers usually don’t see much of what the contestants are eating, but this season, the smoked salmon served at breakfast became such a hot topic that it became a plot point on the show. So we had to ask: Was it really that good?

Eric: I don’t think there’s anything great about the smoked salmon. The issue is that we start shooting very early, and all the foods are cold, right? That breakfast is cold, the croissants are stale, the eggs are cold, everything is cold. And the only thing that’s acceptable to eat cold really, to me, is smoked salmon, and it’s the only form of protein outside of just a bowl of watery, hard-boiled eggs. There’s no seasoning or flavoring in Scottish food. So to have a kick of omega-3 and some salt via smoked salmon I think is what really got people so excited.
Natalie: The salmon was just something that was the best probably at the breakfast table. It was good, but not compared to good salmon, like if you go to New York City and you go to a good deli and you get a nice lox and cream cheese bagel.
Maura: I don’t think it was that good. Because the breakfast was so bad, that was the only kind of good thing we had, and because we didn’t have a lot of it, it was the one thing that we all wanted. The boiled eggs were cold, the toast was hard and cold. I can’t believe it became such a thing as well. Especially me, in every single episode, all I’m doing is eating. There’s companies DMing me offering to send me smoked salmon.

The Traitors Season 4 Finalists Break Down That Savage Finale 2

The five Traitors of season 4.
Danny Ventrella/Peacock

Castle Hindsight Is 20/20

It’s easy to play armchair Faithful from the comfort of your couch, but it’s a lot harder when you’re actually in the castle. Does anyone have regrets?

Tara: It would have been nice if Johnny and I had another Faithful to join our little alliance earlier, but we understand it was hard for anyone to trust anyone in the castle, so that was probably an unlikely hope to begin with! But no regrets — I tried my absolute best throughout the game.
Maura: I genuinely don’t take it that seriously, and I’m not a serious person. I’ve seen a few comments like, “Maura is the dumbest person in there,” but it’s so easy for them to say they know who the Traitors are. Like, it’s not that easy when you’re in there! It’s actually really, really difficult. But yeah, I wasn’t upset [about the ending] at all. I was actually very proud of myself for getting as far as I did. My advice for anyone that’s going to do The Traitors is don’t watch the show. Just go in and don’t have a strategy and just wing it, because it worked for me. I know that I trusted the wrong person, but at least I got to the final and I wasn’t murdered. Brilliant.
Natalie: My biggest regret is not playing a harder game. I could have put some of the worries about being targeted away, even though it was scary because they were killing us left and right as gamers, so it made it harder for me to be myself. But I should have just embraced that and just been like, “Listen, if you’re going to get murdered or banished, it’s better to just try.” … I should have just depended on myself, basically.
Rob: Murdering Mark was a tough one, because I really got close to Mark, and having to see his face right after was a tough one. And I think he knew [I was a Traitor]. I think he had figured it out, and so that’s how I know it was the right choice to make.
Eric: I would have been a little more wary of like, “OK, maybe Rob will stab you in the back.” It would have been a very complex thing to try to pull one over on him, because he had so much trust in the castle … but maybe I would have played it differently.

Lisa Rinna Reveals Why Nobody Suspects Rob as a Traitor


Related: Lisa Rinna Breaks Down Why ‘Nobody Suspects’ Rob R. as a Traitor

The Traitors season 4 star Lisa Rinna is sharing her hot takes on what went down in the castle as the competition reaches a boiling point. “I’m gonna start with this, Rob R. He’s super smart,” the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alums, 62, said in a TikTok video shared ahead of the Thursday, January […]

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Making Lala Proud

Even if they didn’t come out on top, the cast can still hang their capes on their proudest moments in the castle.

Rob: I’m only thinking about the game and how it’s going to work out for me to win. I was there to win a game. I was not there for screen time or anything like that. I wanted to play and win.
Tara: It’s not the best gameplay strategy, but I’m proud that I played the game with my heart and stayed true to myself. I am not a reality star, and it was important to me that I stayed authentic to myself and played with integrity. I made a lot of friends in the castle, and I loved building those relationships.
Eric: My goal was just to have fun. This is the most random side quest I could have ever taken on. And more than anything, I just really wanted to leave an interesting impression on America. I’m American, I was born and raised here, but I had to go to Korea to build a career, because there’s just not a lot of people that look like me doing these things. And so I was like, “OK, I want to do this in a way that’s impactful, and then hopefully we can introduce the music and the multiple films and all the other things that I have going on in an interesting way.” And so from that perspective, I think it’s been fun and successful. And then the other part was like, I really just wanted to make good TV.
Natalie: I’m proud of being an asset. One of the best moments for me was when we were dividing up into teams for the statue challenge. Yam Yam [Arocho] goes, “Alright, so let’s make the strongest people captains,” and they picked me, Colton [Underwood], Rob and Stephen [Colletti]. It’s a different feeling for me — having people just be like, “Natalie’s one of the strongest, stronger than some of the guys. And we’re not going to argue with that.” That, for me, is amazing.
Maura: I’m just proud that I made it as far as I did. To be the last woman standing, I never would have thought that in a million years. I never watched the show. I got to wear all my outfits, and I’m probably getting a Birkin handbag. So, win-win.

The Traitors is now streaming on Peacock.

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Toie Roberts, Rick Ross’ Daughter, Honors Late Partner Lil Poppa

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Rihanna Seemingly Addresses Baby Rumors, Talks "Little Pouch"

The hip-hop world is still reeling after the untimely death of 25-year-old rapper Lil Poppa, and attention has turned to Toie Roberts — Rick Ross’s daughter and mother of Poppa’s only child. Roomies, she’s giving fans a glimpse into her grief, the love they shared and him as a father.

RELATED: Forever Missed! Lil Poppa’s Sister Shares Heartfelt Tribute After His Passing (PHOTOS)

Toie Shares Emotional Tribute Honoring Lil Poppa

In a heartfelt TikTok video this week, Toie shared a caption reading, “till forever ends & that’s NEVER! so don’t give uppppppppppp on us…” alongside several sentimental emojis. Over a one-minute montage, she posted intimate clips showing Lil Poppa, herself, and their son, offering fans a personal look at the bond they shared as a family and the legacy he leaves behind beyond music.

Fans Flood TSR With Condolences For Toie

Roomies immediately flooded TSR’s Instagram comment section, sharing their reactions to Toie Roberts’ heartfelt tribute. Some fans noted how happy Lil Poppa seemed whenever he was with her, highlighting the love they shared. Many others offered condolences, sending prayers and support to Toie and his family during this heartbreaking time.

One Instagram user @wastb said, “i keeppp rewatching this! he really lovedddd you 😢 you bought out that side i see when his family post him

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This Instagram user @nooniezyekasiaa commented, “giving you the biggest virtual hug Eva

And, Instagram user @Sweetie added, “I couldn’t imagine this pain🥹🫩💔praying for you and pj🙏🏽!!!!”

Meanwhile, Instagram user @ms.darylneisha_ wrote, “Girlllll im so sorry you have to experience this I wish nothing but strength on you 🥺🥺🥺”

While Instagram user @edvanced shared, “This really made me sad. Praying for healing 😩😩”

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Lastly, Instagram user @dajabtw added, “I hate this for her, she was the first person I thought about when he died😢”

What Happened To Lil Poppa?

As previously reported, Lil Poppa’s passing has officially been ruled a suicide, the result of a gunshot wound to the head. The news hit just as fans were still reeling from the shock of his sudden death, sending social media into a whirlwind of grief and tributes. Coming shortly after the release of his single ‘Out Of Town Bae,’ many are now reflecting on his recent music, wondering what struggles he may have been facing behind the scenes and mourning the talent taken far too soon.

RELATED: Lil Poppa’s Cause Of Death Confirmed As Close Collaborator Breaks Silence (UPDATE)

What Do You Think Roomies?

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Andy Cohen Shares Heartfelt Message to Mary Cosby After Her Son’s Death

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Andy Cohen shared a touching message to The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Mary Cosby following the death of her son Robert Cosby Jr.

At the end of the Thursday, February 26, episode of Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, Cohen, 57, directed heartfelt words to Mary and her family as they continue to grieve the loss of Robert Jr.

“Before we go, I want to send all my love and heartfelt condolences to Mary Cosby and her family after news broke yesterday about the tragic passing of Mary’s son Robert Jr. This devastatingly sad news is every parent’s worst nightmare,” Cohen said. “My heart breaks for Mary. I will always appreciate getting a small window into the unconditional love between Mary and Robert Jr.”

Cohen went on to praise Mary, 53, for the way she dealt with her son’s struggles over the years, saying, “Mary, you did such a good job.”

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The Bravo personality then publicly thanked both the mother and son duo for sharing their story so openly, which he believes will assist others fighting the same battle.

“I know their bravery and their vulnerability in sharing their story has helped and will continue to help countless people who are struggling,” Cohen continued. “Rest in peace Robert Jr. and thanks.”

Us Weekly confirmed on Wednesday, February 25, that Robert Jr. died at age 23 following a suspected overdose in his parents’ Utah home.

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Mary Cosby.
(Photo by Maya Dehlin Spach/Getty Images)

“Our beloved son Robert Jr. has been called home to the Lord,” Mary shared in a statement to Us. “Though our hearts ache, we take comfort in God’s promise and in knowing he is finally at peace. We are grateful for your prayers and trust in the Lord to carry us through this time of sorrow.”

Robert Jr.’s addiction battle was featured on RHOSLC throughout the past two seasons. Viewers often applauded Mary for her candid approach to opening up about her son’s struggles.

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Cohen previously shared his condolences while speaking on the Wednesday, February 25 episode of SiriusXM’s “Andy Cohen Live.”

“We’re so sad to read the news about Mary Cosby’s son, Robert and I can’t think of anything worse than losing a child and in this way,” he said. “[Cohost] John [Hill], you and I have talked so much on this show about addiction and the heartbreak that is associated and I have so much love for Mary.”

Mary Cosby and Husband Robert 'Struggling' to 'Comprehend' Son's Death After Overdose


Related: Mary Cosby and Husband ‘Struggling’ to ‘Comprehend’ Son’s Death

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The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City’s Mary Cosby and her husband, Robert Cosby Sr., are “struggling to understand” son Robert Cosby Jr.’s death. “Robert Sr. and Mary Cosby are mourning the loss of their beloved son, Robert Clinton Cosby, Jr.,” Clayton Simms, an attorney for the Cosby family, exclusively told Us Weekly on Wednesday, […]

Cohen shared that he spoke with Mary for “a while” on Tuesday, February 24 — one day after Robert Jr. died, emphasizing that this is “every parent’s worst nightmare.”

“You and I talked about this too, just about how much respect we had for the way that she spoke to Robert when we saw them talking about this on air and what I really admired was that she kind of met him where he was in a way, and she was kind of gently steering him or guiding him,” Cohen said.

Cohen recalled that Robert Jr. was in jail when the RHOSLC season 6 reunion was filmed. (Robert Jr. violated a protective order in 2025. He pleaded guilty to the charges and was released from jail earlier this month.)

“She was really hoping that he would be scared straight and I guess that didn’t happen,” Cohen claimed. Cohen added that they are “sending all our love to Mary and Robert.”

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Why aren't Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega in “Scream 7”?

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“Scream 7” will see the return of Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott, but is notably missing rising stars from prior installments.

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Why did Billy Burke and Stephanie Arcila leave “Fire Country”? What we know about their exits (and potential returns)

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Arcila was as surprised by her departure as the audience was.

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One of Tim Burton’s First Films Is Also a Great Twist on ‘Frankenstein’

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There’s a certain kind of horror film you grow up with and never quite let go of — the ones with fog creeping over papier-mâché gravestones, with monsters who look confused about being alive in the first place. The old Universal cycle, the late-night AMC marathons, the days when your local channel would air The Bride of Frankenstein right after reruns of Kolchak: The Night Stalker. Tim Burton must have inhaled that stuff straight into his lungs, because when he started making his own films, you could feel all those classic shadows flickering behind him like someone holding a flashlight to an old bedroom wall.

And if you watched enough Tales from the Darkside or those early X-Files creature features where the monster wasn’t the villain so much as the problem nobody wanted to look at, Edward Scissorhands hits you like a memory you forgot you owned. What it really has is that same nervous, tender feeling you get from The Elephant Man — the way the film sits with someone who doesn’t fit and doesn’t apologize for it. Burton throws that sensibility into a suburb so bright it almost buzzes, and the whole place suddenly feels a little off, like the smile doesn’t match the eyes. Frankenstein author Mary Shelley would’ve cracked a smile.

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The Monster on the Hill Was Never the Scariest Part

People forget this now, but there was a moment in the early ‘90s when Edward Scissorhands felt almost too gentle to be grouped in with horror-adjacent films. But if you peel back the candy colors and the Aqua Net haze, the Frankenstein bones are right there. The castle is a repurposed laboratory, the inventor is a kind of lonely father playing god with trembling hands, and Edward… well, Edward is the most sympathetic monster the genre’s seen since Boris Karloff’s creature opened his eyes for the first time.

What separates Burton’s version from the usual “man creates creature, regrets it” loop is that Edward isn’t wrong or dangerous or flawed — he’s unfinished. That’s a different kind of ache. Most Frankenstein stories hinge on hubris; this one hinges on opportunity stolen. The tragedy isn’t that he exists, it’s that he never gets to exist fully. And adding to the bittersweet nature of the film is horror legend Vincent Price, giving his last performance as Edward’s creator with the kind of gentle sadness that makes the whole film feel like a farewell wrapped in lace.

And when Edward walks into the town below, scissors held like a boy afraid to touch anything, he becomes the thing every Frankenstein creature becomes: a mirror. The neighbors project their fantasies, then their fears. They invent sins he never commits, then punish him for them. The real horror in Edward Scissorhands is the suburbia that smiles warmly until it decides it needs someone to bleed.

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‘Frankenweenie’s Earnest Little Heartbeat

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Victor and Sparky playing in Frankenweenie.
Image Via Disney

But Burton didn’t arrive at Edward out of nowhere. Long before the hair gel and the black-and-white striped suits, he made a little short called Frankenweenie. A kid resurrecting his dog Sparky sounds cute on paper, but the short has that unmistakable Burton grief around its edges — the kind that comes from a person who knows what it’s like to love something fragile and fear the world won’t play fair.

The short is practically a handwritten thank-you note to the original Frankenstein. You still get the lightning in the attic, and the little stitched-together creature who only wants to curl back up where he belonged, and the neighbors freak out right on cue the second anything looks unfamiliar. But underneath all the gags and the obvious callbacks, there’s this unexpectedly raw pulse to it — like Burton wasn’t making a homage so much as sorting through something he didn’t have language for yet.

Frankenweenie


One of Shelley Duvall’s Best Performances Was in This Horrifically Delightful Tim Burton Movie

Duvall is a loving and open-minded mother in Burton’s 1984 short film.

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The short’s clunky in spots, but the honesty keeps poking through anyway. Sparky never reads like a monster; he’s just a dog who got one more shot, and that small, almost ordinary truth hits harder than any of the visual tricks. Watching it now, you can feel Burton fumbling toward the thing he’d chase for years afterward: not the horror, not the spoof, but the soft, tired little heartbreak that sits inside anything we insist on calling a “monster.”

When Burton circled back to Frankenweenie years later, the stop-motion version didn’t feel like some grand artistic declaration — it felt like a guy finally admitting he’d been carrying something around for a long time and needed to get it out of his system. The feature-length Frankenweenie doesn’t feel “bigger” so much as it feels like Burton had more room to wander around the same wound he’d poked at in the short. There’s no big stylistic ta-da. It just settles into this quieter, tired sort of grief. Victor isn’t playing junior inventor anymore; he looks more like a kid who hasn’t figured out how to live with the empty space a pet leaves behind, so he does the one thing that makes sense to him, even if it’s absolutely the thing adults warn you not to touch.

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‘Edward Scissorhands’ Is the Most Human Monster Tim Burton Ever Built

Edward Scissorhands is Burton’s masterpiece for a reason. He’s a Frankenstein creature who feels like he was assembled from empathy instead of sinew. His scissors — sharp, delicate, impractical — are a metaphor disguised as limbs. The hands he should’ve had are the life he never got to touch. When he trims hedges or ice sculptures, it isn’t spectacle, it’s a silent wish for connection.

The town never really gets a chance to understand him — not with all those pastel walls and stiff little routines they cling to like talismans. One minute they’re delighted by what he can do for them, the next they’re spooked by a drop of blood or a gesture they decide looks “wrong,” and from there it’s a straight slide into judgment. The ending lands the way all great monster stories land — not with justice, but with distance. Edward returns to the shadows, creating beauty for a world that only wants it as long as it doesn’t come with strings. It’s the classic Frankenstein ending dressed in Burton’s melancholy: the monster didn’t hurt the world, the world hurt him.

Tim Burton may be known for his stripes and spirals and all that candy-coated goth whimsy, but his real legacy sits with these two films. Frankenweenie is the spark. Edward Scissorhands is a fully grown creature. And together they prove that the best Frankenstein stories aren’t about monsters at all — they’re about love, and the terrible, inevitable truth that creation comes with loss baked right into the blueprint.

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Edward Scissorhands is available to stream on Disney+ in the U.S.


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Release Date
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December 14, 1990

Runtime

105 minutes

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Producers

Denise Di Novi

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Mark Ruffalo’s 5 Best Marvel Movies, Ranked

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The Hulk during battle in Avengers: Age of Ultron

Mark Ruffalo is MCU’s silent selfless king. The dude got no individual movie and yet we all know Hulk like the back of our hands. And the credit goes to the actor. The best Mark Ruffalo MCU performances hit in that exact sweet spot where Bruce Banner feels like the smartest person in the room and also the most emotionally scrambled. Ruffalo gives Bruce this nervous humanity, this constant internal negotiation, and then the Hulk side comes in with chaos, pride, fear, or raw pain and changes the temperature of the whole scene.

So this ranking is about where Ruffalo gets the most to play, not just big Hulk moments, but real Bruce material too. The strongest entries let him be funny, conflicted, awkward, wounded, and unexpectedly moving, amazingly human, and sometimes all of these in the same stretch of the movie. Ruffalo isn’t credited enough for the amazing work he did as Bruce Banner and it’s time we give him some credit for it.

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5

‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ (2015)

The Hulk during battle in Avengers: Age of Ultron Image via Marvel Studios

A lot of people remember Age of Ultron for the bigger chaos, but it’s a really solid Bruce Banner movie because Ruffalo gets to lean into Bruce’s discomfort in a team that’s starting to feel too comfortable with destruction. Bruce Banner is already carrying that quiet dread, the sense that every mission could become a situation where Hulk does damage nobody can cleanly justify later. Ruffalo plays that tension in his posture and timing, and it gives Bruce a nice emotional texture while everyone else is talking louder.

The Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) connection is where the movie gets more layered for him. Ruffalo plays Bruce like a man who wants closeness and still instinctively flinches from it, which fits the character’s whole life. Then the Hulkbuster fight turns that fear into spectacle, and it works because Bruce’s worst anxiety becomes visible to the entire world. By the end, his exit lands with sadness because you can feel how tired he is of being both the solution and the problem.

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4

‘The Avengers’ (2012)

Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk looking dismayed among a dust cloud in The Avengers.
Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk looking dismayed among a dust cloud in The Avengers.
Image via Marvel Studios 

The Avengers is one of Ruffalo’s most lovable MCU performances because he walks into a giant ensemble and immediately gives Bruce a clear vibe: brilliant, wary, polite, and one bad day away from disaster. The Avengers had to reintroduce Banner and make audiences care fast, and Ruffalo nails that in minutes. The way he talks to Black Widow, the way he enters the helicarrier, the way he watches everyone else’s energy before joining in, you instantly get a Bruce who lives in self-monitoring mode.

And then the movie rewards that setup with one of the best character-payoff lines in the whole MCU. Ruffalo’s “I’m always angry” moment was epic. It makes you see how he played with so much contained tension before it. The transformation in the final battle feels triumphant and a little scary at the same time, which is exactly the right mix for Banner/Hulk. He also brings sneaky humor all over this movie, and that compounded in the later MCU installments as well. All in all, Ruffalo made Bruce feel like a real person inside the blockbuster machine.

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3

‘Avengers: Infinity War’ (2018)

Bruce Banner looking intently somewhere off-camera in Avengers: Infinity War Image via Marvel Studios

What makes Ruffalo great in Infinity War is that the movie flips his usual Banner/Hulk dynamic and lets him play panic, embarrassment, and desperation in a really entertaining way. Bruce Banner arrives with catastrophic information, nobody has time, and he’s trying to get the team to understand the scale of what’s coming while also dealing with a Hulk who suddenly refuses to come out. That reversal gives Ruffalo a ton to work with. Bruce is used to fearing Hulk’s presence; here he’s terrified of Hulk’s absence.

It also makes the comedy sharper because the jokes grow out of a real character crisis. The Hulk “won’t perform” angle could have felt throwaway, but Ruffalo played Bruce’s frustration beautifully . His Wakanda material was especially fun too because he’s still fully committed to helping, even when he’s improvising with technology and pride on the line. The movie keeps him active, useful, and emotionally frazzled, which is generally a great Ruffalo zone.

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2

‘Thor: Ragnarok’ (2017)

Mark Ruffalo as Hulk pouting next to Chris Hemsworth's Thor in Thor: Ragnarok
Mark Ruffalo as Hulk pouting next to Chris Hemsworth’s Thor in Thor: Ragnarok
Image via Marvel Studios

Thor: Ragnarok showed the most different version of Hulk too — not just Thor’s (Chris Hemsworth). It gave him room to be weird, funny, and vulnerable without losing the Bruce/Hulk tension. Bruce Banner wakes up after being gone for a long time, and Ruffalo plays the disorientation beautifully, confused, chatty, anxious, and trying to piece together what Hulk has been doing with his life on Sakaar. It’s funny right away, but there’s also a genuine sadness underneath it because Bruce realizes time and control have slipped through his fingers again.

The movie let Ruffalo bounce off Hemsworth in a way that brings out a totally different rhythm in Bruce. Their chemistry is great because Thor is all momentum and Bruce is all internal noise. Then the story keeps pushing Bruce into situations where he has to choose whether to become Hulk again, knowing what that choice may cost him. Ruffalo makes those beats land with actual emotional weight. By the end, he feels both hilarious and deeply fragile, which is exactly what made him so watchable here.

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1

‘Avengers: Endgame’ (2019)

Mark Ruffalo as Professor Hulk eating at a dinner in Avengers: Endgame. Image via Marvel Studios

This gets the top spot because Endgame finally lets Ruffalo play the result of years of conflict instead of just the conflict itself. Bruce Banner, at this point, had merged Banner and Hulk into Smart Hulk. While the performance could have been a gimmick, Ruffalo made it feel like a coping strategy, a breakthrough, and a slightly awkward new identity all at once. There’s confidence in him now, but it’s still Bruce’s confidence, gentle, nerdy, eager to be helpful, a little self-conscious in social situations even when he’s in a giant green body.

What pushes it to number one is the emotional layering in the middle and back half. The time-heist scenes let Ruffalo be funny in a fresh way, especially when Bruce has to confront older Hulk-era chaos. Then the snap aftermath gives him real weight. He’s the one who uses the gauntlet, and Ruffalo plays the cost like a man choosing pain because he can survive it better than the others. In Endgame, Hulk was not the loudest Avenger, but he felt essential at every step. He was steady, wounded, still fighting. It’s Ruffalo’s fullest MCU movie.


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Avengers: Endgame
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Release Date

April 26, 2019

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Runtime

181 Minutes

Writers
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Keith Giffen, Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Don Heck, Jim Starlin, Joe Simon, Steve Englehart, Jack Kirby, Steve Gan, Bill Mantlo, Stephen McFeely, Christopher Markus


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    Robert Downey Jr.

    Tony Stark / Iron Man

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    Chris Evans

    Steve Rogers / Captain America

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Katie Couric Talks Savannah Guthrie’s ‘Today’ Future And More

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Katie Couric at The 2022 Varietys Power of Women New York Event-NYC

Katie Couric is offering her take on when Savannah Guthriecould possibly return to the “Today” show, as she continues to search for her missing mother, Nancy Guthrie.

Couric, who held the “Today” show co-anchor position from 1991 until 2006, shares her thoughts in a recent interview.

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Katie Couric Speaks On Savannah Guthrie’s ‘Today’ Show Absence, Calling It ‘Tragically Unprecedented’

Katie Couric at The 2022 Varietys Power of Women New York Event-NYC
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In a recent interview with Variety on Thursday, February 26, Couric discussed her thoughts about the heartbreaking tragedy involving Guthrie, as she has stepped away from the “Today” show to devote her full attention to finding her mother, who has been missing for almost a month.

“This situation is tragically unprecedented, and I think it’s really hard to compare anything else to what Savannah and her family are dealing with right now,” Couric told the outlet.

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She continued, noting that the “Today” show team is doing their best to cover for Guthrie while she focuses on bringing her mother home.

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“Morning shows are living, breathing organisms, and when something happens to a member of these very close-knit teams, it is devastating, I think, to everyone,” Couric said. “The ‘Today’ show team is doing the best they possibly can, and it must be excruciating to try to carry on, but also to cover a story about a beloved colleague.”

She also praised Hoda Kotb, who has filled in amid Guthrie’s absence.

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“They are fortunate that Hoda, who is a familiar and beloved face, is able to step in so seamlessly under very difficult circumstances,” she added.

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Couric Previously Sent Prayers And Support To Savannah And Her Family

In an Instagram post on February 3, a few days after Nancy Guthrie was declared missing, Couric posted a heartfelt message of support for Guthrie’s family.

“I cannot stop thinking and worrying about Nancy Guthrie, Savannah, her siblings and her children. There is just so much sadness and anxiety in the world—so much cruelty, it is almost impossible to fathom,” Couric’s caption read.

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“Sending them and all of you out there love and support and praying for the safety and well being of this lovely mom and grandmother and honestly, right now for an entire country that seems lost,” she continued.

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Savannah Guthrie Increased The Reward For Her Mother’s Return To $1 Million, But Has Reportedly Decided To Leave Arizona

On February 25, Guthrie posted yet another Instagram video, this time announcing she was increasing the reward for her mother’s return to $1 million.

“Family reward of up to $1 million will be paid only for recovery of Nancy Guthrie, consistent with FBI criteria for payment of its reward in this case,” the caption of the video read.

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“We need to know where she is, we need her to come home,” Guthrie said in the video. “We also know that she may be lost, she may already be gone. She may have already gone home to the lord that she loves.”

She continued, “If you’ve been waiting and you haven’t been sure, let this be your sign to please come forward.”

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Despite the substantial reward increase, Guthrie has reportedly decided to leave Arizona, where her mother lives and disappeared from, to return back to her homebase of New York.

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Per the Daily Mail, an inside source shared the details behind the decision.

“She can’t stay in Arizona forever. Her kids and her life are in New York City,” the source told the outlet. “The family is coming to terms with the fact that this might take years.”

The Pima County Sheriff’s Department Has Limited Daily Updates As The Case Nears 1-Month Mark

Savannah Guthrie and her mother at the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation's 37th Annual Gracie National Awards
MPI28/Capital Pictures / MEGA

According to USA Today, on Tuesday, February 24, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said in part regarding the 84-year-old’s disappearance, “at this time, we will limit further updates to instances when new information warrants release.”

“The Pima County Sheriff’s Department and the FBI continue to work around the clock on this investigation and are actively pursuing all viable leads,” the statement continued.

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This 78% Rotten Tomatoes Sci-Fi Movie Is Quietly One 2026’s Biggest Streaming Hits

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When a big-name sci-fi movie like Predator: Badlands hits streaming, it’s safe to assume that it’s going to do reasonably well. It’s less easy to foresee when a movie will seemingly come out of nowhere and find streaming success, especially when it’s a movie from a first-time director. So it’s impressive that Archive, filmmaker Gavin Rothery’s debut feature film (with a solid 78 percent on Rotten Tomatoes), has managed to become one of the biggest streaming hits of the year so far.

According to JustWatch, Archive is currently number 71 on its streaming charts, which cover “4,500 streaming services” and are based on the number of users who are clicking links to watch a movie, adding it to their watchlists, or marking that they have seen it. So, in theory, that’s number 71 across all movies ever, and JustWatch puts it ahead of far-more-famous films like Black Phone 2, Scream 2, and The Revenant. JustWatch also says the sci-fi movie spent five days in the top 10 and has been in the top 100 for 24 days. It likely helps that Archive is easily accessible: It’s currently available to subscribers on Netflix and Prime Video, plus free with ads on The Roku Channel and YouTube.

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‘Archive’ Is a Sci-Fi Thriller About AI Surpassing Humans

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Set in the relatively near future, Archive follows a scientist, George (Theo James from The Monkey), whose wife (Stacy Martin from The Brutalist) is killed in a car accident. Thanks to not-at-all chilling advances in AI technology, her memory is able to be stored digitally and George is able to communicate with her for a set number of hours. Being a grieving husband, George refuses to accept that and starts building a robot that will be able to store the — ahem — archived version of his wife permanently.

It is, of course, not that easy. The movie ends up having to say about mourning and love and the way humans react to both, plus a look at the dystopian possibility of our thoughts and feelings becoming proprietary data controlled by tech companies. We don’t know what the fine print looks like on an Archive contract, but would it be worth getting another 200 hours with a deceased loved one if it means their life would be used to train an algorithm? That’s not explicitly what Archive is about, but science fiction is beginning to tackle a decreasingly hypothetical and increasingly possible future we might find ourselves in before too long.

What’s particularly impressive about Archive’s timeliness is that it was initially released in 2020, a ways before AI became one of the dominant talking points of general human existence. It predates the trend, rather than chasing it. Also, while this is Rothery’s debut directorial feature, he did conceptual design work on Duncan JonesMoon. That’s a solid bona fide for someone working in the sci-fi movie business.

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Once again, Archive is available on Netflix, Prime Video, Roku, and YouTube.


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Release Date
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August 13, 2020

Runtime

109 minutes

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Director

Gavin Rothery

Producers
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Luc Roeg, Phil Hunt, Richard Goldberg, Compton Ross, James Atherton, Nate Bolotin, Jan Pace, Norman Merry, Peter Hampden, Trevor Beattie, Theo James, Cora Palfrey, Philip Herd, Sarah Lebutsch


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    Stacy Martin

    Jules Almore / J3 / J2 (voice)

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Candace Owens Claims Erika Kirk and Her Mom Wanted to Be Famous

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Candace Owens is accusing Erika Kirk and her mother, Lori Frantzve, of being social climbers.

Speaking on episode 2 of her docuseries, Bride of Charlie, which dropped on Thursday, February 26, Owens claimed Erika, 37, and Lori have long held ambitions of being famous.

The conservative podcast host, 36, suggested that Lori had often encouraged Erika to work the room, even before Erika married prominent right-wing activist Charlie Kirk. (Charlie was shot dead at Utah university campus on September 10, 2025.)

“What people have said to me is she is the person who has always been the person in Erika’s ear. She’s this type A person that tells her who to go after in each and every room. She knows who those people are, who Erika should instantly transform into, what she has to say,” Owens said in the episode.

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She continued, “I mean, one of [Erika’s] exes was very clear. He said to me, ‘I was warned by another person in the beauty pageant world that that girl will do anything to get to the top and her mother will do anything to help her get to the top.”

Owens went on to claim that outsiders suspected that Lori has likely been “the person in her ear” but also suggested that Erika was a willing participant in this as she had similar goals.

“She wanted Erika to be famous. But let’s not remove Erika from this. Erika desperately wanted to be famous. No one can deny that,” Owens added.

Owens also referenced Erika’s past relationships, including JT Massey. Erika and Massey, her then-boyfriend, auditioned to compete on The Amazing Race together in 2014.

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Erika Kirk.
(Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

 

“Tomorrow when we now begin in earnest to go through Erika’s life, you will see she’s never dated a normal guy. She’s never dated a guy with a nine-to-five job,” Owens continued. “You can see, like, she was going to be with somebody. She was, ‘Okay, you’re going to the NFL. You’re going to the MLB. We can be on the Amazing Race together.’”

Us Weekly has reached out to representatives for Erika Kirk and Lori Frantze for comment.

Erika took over the role as Turning Point CEO after her husband, Charlie, was fatally shot in the neck while speaking at an outdoor event on the Utah Valley University campus on September 10, 2025. He was 31. (A 22-year-old male was arrested in connection with the shooting on September 11, 2025, but has yet to enter a plea.)

Owens, a former Turning Point USA communications director, has grown increasingly critical of Erika since Charlie’s death.

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Candace Owens Claimed Erika Kirk Lied About Single Mother Upbringing GettyImages-1315082146 GettyImages-2250859050


Related: Candace Owens Claims Erika Kirk Lied About Being Raised by a Single Mother

Candace Owens is raising questions about Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, in her new multi-part docuseries, Bride of Charlie, exploring Erika’s upbringing and background. “I will tell you my personal opinion and experience with her. What alarms me about Erika isn’t so much the fact that she lies, which we will prove to you over […]

In January, Owens leaked audio of Erika, which was reportedly recorded two weeks after Charlie was fatally shot, and suggested the widow was possibly moving on too fast from the loss.

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“That’s moving pretty quickly to the acceptance phase now,” Owens told her viewers at the time. “We know everybody grieves differently. In my imagination, I just thought she would be more upset.”

For her part, Erika shared a tribute to Charlie via her Instagram to commemorate turning 37 on February 20.

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“I always loved celebrating you, and maybe because it was a reflection of how beautifully you always celebrated me. I romanticized growing old with you, the love of my life,” Erika, who has a son and daughter with Charlie, shared. “I used to wonder what our faces would look like with wisdom-wrinkles. You’d always tell me how you hoped I’d keep my long hair even when we were both gray and also that l’d always wear white (because it was the color you loved me wearing the most).”

Erika added, “We’d laugh about how you’d probably still be out on college campuses in your 80s, doing ‘Prove Me Wrong’ campus events because you loved those students. And then we’d both start to tear up when talking about our babies growing older and having a family of their own. A full life.”

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Jania Meshell Hits TikTok After Nique & NBA YoungBoy’s Pop Out

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Folks have been refreshing their timelines, waiting on Jania Meshell to enter the chat after Nique popped out riding shotgun with NBA YoungBoy. The social media streets are calm for now, but Jania just posted a few TikTok videos, and now fans are blowing up her comment section asking “What’s Next?” 

RELATED: Internet User Accuses Nique Of Being With Her “Home Girl’s Man” Following Clip From NBA YoungBoy’s Passenger Seat — She Responds

Jania Meshell’s NEW TikTok Videos Have Fans Patiently Waiting On Her “Next Move!”

On Thursday, February 26, Jania Meshell slid onto TikTok with some new videos. Her posts dropped shortly after a clip of Nique cruising with NBA YoungBoy went viral. Even with all of the reactions and folks online dragging Nique for being with her “home girl’s man,” Jania stayed quiet. Her energy gave straight unbothered vibes as she danced and kept twerking on TikTok in a matching two-piece cheetah print set. She left her posts without captions, but her TikTok followers basically wrote one for her, dying to know whether she’s planning on playing chess or checkers with her next move! But still, Jania hasn’t said a word about whether she will or won’t get her lick back. Despite all of the chatter about Jania’s next plan, she’s previously made it clear that, when it comes to her and NBA they are nothing more than co-parents.

Jania’s Video Sparks A Storm Of Reactions Online

As we said, Jania’s comment section was popping! Some fans told her to reach out to Nique’s ex-man, Dwayne Bacon, ASAP, while others mentioned that they were ready to ride out whenever she says go.

TikTok user @Kim🎀 wrote,GIRL GO GET YO MAN DWAYNE.” 

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TikTok user @michele21 wrote, @Janiameshell just let me know what time we gone ride out.” 

While TikTok user @oneofonebri wrote,Hey boo what’s the plan? Have you spoke to Wayne yet.” 

TikTok user @thereal._.rayshawn wrote, I just wanna know yo next move.” 

Another TikTok user @Bri🩷 wrote, Sista we gotta have a plan by now.” 

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Then TikTok user @LadyyB ❤️‍🔥 wrote, “Dwayne needs get here.” 

While another TikTok user @Peso wrote, “Mhm silent but up to no good 😏” 

TikTok user @lyiahlyiah. wrote, you need help lmk i got you, just fly me out and we gon handle that.” 

Finally, TikTok user @𝒦 ྀིྀིྀིྀིྀི wrote, girl they tag teamin u cant go out like this get EM!” 

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What’s Really Tea On Nique & NBA YoungBoy?

Right now, there’s no word on what led to Nique and YoungBoy’s random link-up. She still took a moment to clap back at trolls accusing her of backstabbing Jania by hanging out with him, though. When one Instagram user called her out in her TikTok comment section, writing, “being with ya home girl man smh… but kk,” she responded back with “My homegirl wouldn’t try to throw dirt on my name online but go off.” On top of that, she cleared the air about her status with Dwayne Bacon. When fans asked where he was, she responded with, “With his new girl in Dubai.” 

As for NBA, he hasn’t said much about the video, but fans have been suspicious about whether he’s hooked up with Nique before. The speculation started online in November 2025, after fans tried to connect his ‘Zero IQ Freestyle’ lyrics to messages from Jania and Yaya Mayweather. NBA shut it down real quick, though, making it clear they’ve never met.

“I never met Nique for me to have sex with her but tell her I’m a loaner from cross the roads 3800blk,” NBA previously wrote in a post on X.

RELATED: Whew! Yaya Mayweather & Starr Deja’nee React After Nique Shares Clip Of Herself Cruising Around With NBA YoungBoy (VIDEO)

What Do You Think Roomies?

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