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Widely reviled former reality star Josh Duggar was arrested on child porn charges this week.

The charges may not be a surprise, given his history, but they are nonetheless disgusting.

As the depraved monster awaits his hearing next week, fans are wondering how all of the pieces fit together.

And for that matter ... if he's guilty, what was going through Josh's mind to make him do this?

On Thursday, April 29, Josh Duggar was arrested for receiving and possessing child pornography.

The father of six allegedly downloaded material depicting the sexual abuse of children under the age of 12.

He is accused of doing so in May of 2019, nearly two years before the arrest.

The day after his arrest, Josh appeared in court on Friday, April 30, via video conference.

He pleaded not guilty to the charges of receiving and possessing child porn.

If Josh is convicted, he could face a total of 40 years in prison and a hefty six-figure fine.

Josh is behind bars because he is being held without bail.

There is a detention hearing on May 5 that may determine Josh's whereabouts before and during the trial.

Currently, the trial is scheduled to begin on July 6.

Unlike in the past, Jim Bob and Michelle were not able to cover for their son.

For the first time, Josh appears to be facing legal consequences for his alleged wrongdoings.

Powerless to hide him from justice, the family can only release a terse public comment.

Jim Bob and Michelle released a statement on Friday after Josh's charges were made public.

“We appreciate your continued prayers for our family at this time,” the notorious cult members began.

They could not deny that “the accusations brought against Joshua today are very serious."

"It is our prayer that the truth, no matter what it is, will come to light," the Duggar parents claimed.

"And," their statement continued, "that this will all be resolved in a timely manner."

Jim Bob and Michelle concluded: "We love Josh and Anna and continue to pray for their family.”

Fans could not help but notice the suspicious timing of all of this.

After all, the arrest came such a short time after Anna Duggar's pregnancy announcement.

For the record, many fans were already concerned that Josh was going to have another girl under his roof before this arrest.

To understand what happened, we have to first go back to the beginning.

When he was just a teenager, Josh molested multiple very little girls.

Several of them were his own sisters.

Jim Bob and Michelle, piece by piece, assembled the perfect stalking ground for a young sexual predator.

They then gave birth to Josh.

Here is how all of that fit together:

The Duggars, their cult, and many fellow fundamentalists believe in what's called "purity culture."

This toxic idea holds the idea that sex is in some way immoral, unclean, or unbecoming.

It causes people (especially women) to imagine that sexual thoughts, activities, or even basic knowledge can taint them.

Why does this environment make the ideal stalking ground for a predator who targets young girls?

Because no one has the language or understanding to describe what has been happening to them.

Additionally, feelings of shame at what has happened and fear of punishment if they come forward can keep victims silenced.

That is not the only thing that made the Duggar home an alarmingly safe place for Josh to prey upon his little sisters.

A large family, reliant upon siblings looking after each other, can give a predator opportunities to avoid detection.

But a fundamentalist cult, unwilling to be part of actual society, can protect them when they're caught.

That is exactly what happened, of course.

Jim Bob forced Josh into faith-based, unlicensed "therapy" within the cult.

That way, neither authorities nor the public had any knowledge of Josh's crimes for many years.

Why cover for his son? First and foremost, Jim Bob is an ambitious man and did not want the scandal.

He also would not want to embarrass the cult to which he belongs or draw unwanted outside attention to it in this context.

Finally, it may be that he genuinely, but incorrectly, believed that a faith counselor and shaming could "fix" Josh.

This again goes back tot he core ideas of purity culture, in which sex as a whole is "unclean" outside of specific circumstances.

Josh's activities weren't seen as a monster abusing little children, but as a man straying from the cult's beliefs and from God.

It was perceived that the Duggars would later view Josh cheating and viewing (adult) porn as the same thing happening again.

The story of Josh's crimes against these girls only came out, ultimately, several years ago.

The public outcry forced TLC to cancel 19 Kids and Counting.

Fans were heartbroken and disgusted, by his deeds and by the cover-up.

Jim Bob had used the show to raise money and fame to give himself a platform to push his agenda.

This means that he directly profited from keeping Josh's crimes a secret.

In his mind, this likely meant that the coverup was justified, if not divinely mandated.

At the time, John-David Duggar characterized Josh's scandal as the work of the devil.

This was not a simple "the devil made him do it" defense of his brother.

John-David was suggesting that satanic powers were trying to ruin his family ... by exposing Josh's crimes.

One has to question the beliefs of a cult whose most hated enemy strikes by exposing sex crimes against children.

However, this was not the end of it.

As we mentioned and of course reported, Josh confessed to cheating on Anna, his wife at the time of the scandal.

Fast forward past Josh's Ashley Madison cheating and (adult) porn scandals, and we get to late autumn in 2019.

At that time, rumors that "the FBI" had "raided the Duggar compound" in Arkansas began to swirl.

The truth turned out to be a little less dramatic ... at the time.

Homeland Security, it turned out, had been in the area -- something that they did not deny.

It was immediately speculated that it could be in some way related to Josh Duggar's sordid history.

Though it now seems that the reason was exactly what we were all thinking, most wrote it off as some sort of complicated financial crime.

At the time, the Duggar family put out a statement claiming that none of it was true.

They also insisted that none of them were the targets of an investigation.

Given that this was mere months after Josh allegedly received child porn ... that denial sort of falls flat now.

Many people are wondering what exactly would make someone like Josh prey upon children.

In 2015, some mistakenly believed that this was simply (very unhealthy, predatory) exploration of a 14-year-old with no sex ed or any kind of healthy outlet.

Clearly, that is not the case for a man in his thirties who is arrested for downloading the sexual abuse of preteen children.

As far as the larger medical and psychiatric community can tell, pedophilia -- adults attracted to minors -- have complicated causes.

The question of whether it's "nature or nurture" can likely be answered by "both."

But one way or the other, human instincts to protect children get blurred with human instincts for sexual desire.

This should not be confused with a creepy older dude who wants to bone high school girls (or "barely legal") women.

That's about power dynamics and a whole different type of predation ... and is a whole other story. Ugh, people can be so gross.

Of course, someone being unfortunate enough to find themselves attracted to little kids doesn't always mean that they would act on it.

Experts say that most of the adult men who actually prey on children are simply sadists who want a victim.

These men see children as "convenient targets."

In contrast, it's believed (but frankly needs further study) that there may be men "like Josh" who have never touched a child.

That's because, unlike Josh, they are people who either lacked the opportunity to molest -- or didn't want to ruin a child's life.

Which means that Josh is a man who prioritizes his own sick, twisted desires over the safety of little girls.

He has now demonstrated this more than once.

The reason that child porn is (and must be) criminalized is that it is the footage of a child's life being ruined.

Josh is accused of downloading porn of a child under the age of 12 being sexually abused.

It's gross that he'd want to possess or view that kind of material. It's evil that he'd seek and acquire it.

It's possible that Josh would have different desires today, or at least make different choices about those desires, if he'd had proper counseling as a teen.

Instead he was shamed, given a faith-based "rehab" treatment, and had his crimes covered, his victims forced to accept and forgive him.

Josh's choices as an adult may have gotten him arrested, but Jim Bob's decisions are what guaranteed all of this.

We have yet another update on the very troubling situation surrounding Josh Duggar.

The 33-year old was arrested this week by federal authorities in Arkansas, who took the former reality star into custody on Wednesday, April 28.

We've since learned that he's been charged with receiving and possessing child pornography, both of which he pleaded not guilty to in court on Friday.

The father of six, however, remains behind bars. 

No bail has been set.

According to legal documents, Duggar downloaded images of underage girls and/or boys in May 2019, most likely from the office of his used car dealership.

At least one of these downloaded images was of a child under the age of 12.

Hence why it was raided in November of that year by the Department of Homeland Security.

Duggar’s trial date has been scheduled for Tuesday, July 6 and he will remain in custody at least for another week, until a detention hearing on May 5.

But here's the thing:

Based on what a judge decreed in court this morning, even if he does get free on baiil after the aforementioned hearing, Duggar will not be permitted to return home.

Why not?

Because Josh will not be allowed near minors.

Here is the official statement from the United States Attorney’s Office in regard to the case:

A Springdale man was arrested yesterday for receiving and possessing material depicting the sexual abuse of children.

According to court documents, Joshua James Duggar, 33, allegedly used the internet to download child sexual abuse material.

Duggar allegedly possessed this material, some of which depicts the sexual abuse of children under the age of 12, in May 2019.

Duggar is charged by indictment with receiving and possessing child pornography.

If convicted, he faces up to 20 years of imprisonment and fines up to $250,000 on each count.

And here is what Judge Erin Wiedemann said:

“Given the nature of the charges against him, the court would likely require a third-party custodian that could live with him and would ensure compliance with the conditions of bond.” 

Translation?

Even if a bail is set and bond is granted on May 5, Josh will have to live with someone who “has no minors living in the home," the judge stated.

Josh and his emotionally-abused wife, Anna, are parents to six kids: Mackynzie, 11; Michael, 9; Marcus, 7; Meredith, 5; Mason, 3; and 17-month-old Maryella.

All are considered to be minors under the law.

As a result, Josh will not be allowed to live under their same roof.

It's unclear at this time under what conditions he'll be allowed to see them at all.

Did we mention that Anna is also pregnant with the couple's seventh child?

And that Josh confessed six years ago to molesting five young girls, including his own sisters, when he was 14?

And that he also confessed in 2015 to cheating on his wife through the website Ashley Madison, which arranges a bedroom mate for spouses looking to commit adultery?

These are all facts.

In response to this arrest and extremely disturbing scandal, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar have said of their oldest child:

We appreciate your continued prayers for our family at this time.

The accusations brought against Joshua today are very serious.

It is our prayer that the truth, no matter what it is, will come to light ...

... and that this will all be resolved in a timely manner.

We love Josh and Anna and continue to pray for their family.

Said Josh's lawyer:

In this country, no one can stop prosecutors from charging a crime.

But when you're accused, you can fight back in the courtroom - and that is exactly what Josh intends to do.

Said Jinger Duggar:

We are disturbed to hear of the charges against Josh.

While the case must go through the legal system, we want to make it clear that we absolutely condemn any form of child abuse and fully support the authorities and judicial process in their pursuit of justice.

Said Jill Duggar Dillard, Josh's sister, and her husband Derick Dillard:

We just found out this information yesterday.

It is very sad.

After Josh's expunged police report from 2006 resurfaced in 2015, and the public learned of his molestation history, 19 Kids and Counting was cancelled by TLC.

Said his parents back then:

When Josh was a young teenager, he made some very bad mistakes, and we were shocked. We had tried to teach him right from wrong. That dark and difficult time caused us to seek God like never before.

Even though we would never choose to go through something so terrible, each one of our family members drew closer to God.

And after extramarital relationships were revealed, in a since-edited statement on the Duggar family blog, Josh wrote:

I have been the biggest hypocrite ever.

While espousing faith and family values, I have secretly over the last several years been viewing pornography on the internet and this became a secret addiction and I became unfaithful to my wife.

Noah Centineo no longer has the power. The Wrap reports that the To All the Boys actor will not be playing the part of Prince Adam/He-Man in Sony and Mattel Films’ Masters of the Universe.

Centineo exits the role after joining the film two years ago. Masters of the Universe has been in the works for a while and there have not been many updates. Right now we know that Aaron and Adam Nee are slated to direct from a script “rewritten by Iron Man screenwriters Matt Holloway and Art Marcum.” But it may have been one of the many projects delayed dramatically due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Masters of the Universe series follows Prince Adam of Eternia, who is able to transform into the mighty He-Man with his Power Sword. He defends the kingdom from the lord of memes Skeletor. The series was based on Mattel’s massively successful toy line and was adapted into two cartoons that people remember fondly, and a cult-classic film starring a young Dolph Lundgren as Adam/He-Man. Reboots have been in the works for decades, but no progress has been made, and this latest attempt doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.

The Masters movie may not have been a major priority since there is an animated He-Man series from Kevin Smith that is premiering soon, following the wrap-up of the very successful She-Ra reboot on Netflix from Dreamworks Animation. A spokesperson from The Wrap reached out for more information about the project, but no updates have been shared so far.

Masters of the Universe would’ve been the first major Hollywood lead role for Centineo, who became the internet’s boyfriend due to starring as the himbo du jour, Peter Kavinsky, in Netflix’s To All the Boys films. He has been in some feature films as a supporting player, but that is really it outside of the Netflix rom-com industrial complex.

But being part of that industry has made Centineo a household name and a recognizable face in a way not many actors can command. Masters of the Universe was supposed to be his big leading-man break, yet I don’t think Centineo will be seeing it as a big loss. He has a lot on his plate.

Centineo will instead be joining the DC film Black Adam as Adam Smasher, starring opposite Dwayne Johnson and Aldis Hodge. Black Adam is scheduled to hit theaters on July 29, 2022. He’s going to be a superhero opposite one of the most bankable Hollywood movie stars. And he doesn’t even have to work about changing his character name since they are both Adam anyway.

I’m interested in how Kevin Smith’s animated He-Man series will work. I think that She-Ra really changed expectations for some and became both successful and critically lauded. So I’m hoping that some positive lessons will be taken from She-Ra’s accomplishents while these new installments craft their own vision.

(via SlashFilm, image: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Netflix)

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The post Online Boyfriend Noah Centineo No Longer He-Man in Masters of the Universe first appeared on The Mary Sue.

Variety has a new article entitled “No, Bucky Wasn’t Revealing He’s Bi in That ‘Falcon and Winter Soldier’ Scene, Says Director.” The showbiz publication talked to The Falcon and the Winter Soldier director Kari Skogland and in the course of the interview, a tasty soundbite from Skogland concerned the fan ardor and investment in Bucky Barnes’ sexuality. So Variety ran with a headline that is now sending a portion of Marvel fandom into angry retweet-with-eyeroll.gif mode. Variety’s sort of framing isn’t helpful or necessary, but there’s a lot to unpack here.

Variety writer Adam B. Vary doesn’t treat fan theories and shipping around Bucky as a joke, which is much appreciated. The primary problem is the headline and the way that Skogland interacts with fannish ideas—and, of course, the Marvel movies’ glaring lack of queer representation. Vary also explains, at length, how Bucky came to be seen as a “something of a queer icon” throughout his time in the MCU:

As played by Sebastian Stan, Bucky always maintained a powerful emotional bond with his best friend Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), a.k.a. Captain America, which only heightened when Steve risked it all to rescue Bucky from his life as a brainwashed assassin in 2014’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.” Between the palpable chemistry between Stan and Evans, and Steve’s proclamation that he’s with Bucky “until the end of the line,” there was large portion of the internet that desperately wanted Steve and Bucky to be a romantic couple. To these fans, it was self-evident that Bucky was bisexual; he’s just never had the opportunity to express it.

This characterization of Bucky carried over to The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and for a significant portion of fandom, ways in which Bucky was depicted on the show continued to affirm Bucky’s queerness. Vary then covers Skogland’s responses to interview questions about Bucky’s sexuality and the nature of his relationship with his new partner Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie).

Fans had pointed out that in an early episode, Bucky mentions seeing pictures of people posing with tigers on dating sites—and that this suggested he was also looking at men’s profiles, since some queer men are apparently fond of posting tiger selfies. This is the sort of creative fandom extrapolation that doesn’t really need to be confirmed or denied. Perhaps Variety didn’t need to ask. But Skogland made it clear this wasn’t the message they’d meant to impart:

In an interview with Variety following the “FAWS” finale, however, director Kari Skogland said that was never the team’s intention.

“I think we just thought of it as an oddity of the times, because he’s so confused by it,” she says. “Because don’t forget, he’s 106 years old. So he’s just confused by the whole thing.”

Skogland laughs while talking about Bucky’s “tiger” moment; it’s clear she’s seen the fan reactions, too. But she says she and Stan never discussed the implications of why Bucky would be seeing big cats on a dating site.

“What we were really more trying to display was his complete lack of technical skills, as well as being part of any kind of community,” she says. “He doesn’t fit. So that was I think more our intention there that try to point to any one particular affinity.”

the thing is…. the dating scene was at the very bottom of our evidence list for bucky being bi. https://t.co/adNY0sP6fA

— guneet (@filmsofcap) April 29, 2021

I’m not expecting Marvel directors to engage with Variety on a deep dive into fandom and a character’s sexuality as represented there for nearly a decade (much longer if we’re counting comics fandom). That way lies madness. But on the other hand, it wasn’t strictly necessary for Variety to take this mild exchange and turn it into a blaring klaxon headline of “No, Bucky Wasn’t Revealing He’s Bi in That ‘Falcon and Winter Soldier’ Scene, Says Director.”

That sort of broad declaration only serves to upset people who feel a connection to this potential aspect of the character’s identity. It tells more disinterested parties that No, Bucky Wasn’t Revealing He’s Bi, so he must not be. Which leads to yet more headlines in our never-ending media echo chamber.

It also sets a discourse snowball in motion that quickly gathers speed. Many people don’t bother to click past a headline or gather more information beyond an outraged tweet. This has led to a sort of game of telephone awareness where now I see folks on social media claiming Marvel felt the need to directly respond on the matter of Bucky’s sexuality, as though the studio itself issued a press release about canonical heterosexuality. None of that happened.

On the other hand, if Skogland (and Variety) are as aware of the intense fandom involvement and reactions to various episodes as it seems, all of this could have been done with more sensitivity toward that end. Headlines and articles like Variety’s just become further weapons that trolls and antis can arm themselves with on our infinite Internet battlefields. It can be great to see queer fanon covered in more mainstream publications, but it’s often a rocky road.

Whether you “get” it or not, fans have been involved in creating transformative works, meta, cosplay, and other deeply committed activities centered around Bucky (and other MCU characters) being queer for years. And we’re not talking about the concerted involvement of a tiny but very online minority here. There are 118,165 fanfiction stories that feature Bucky Barnes as a character on Archive of Our Own, with 53,619 about the old warhorse ship of Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes, or “Stucky.” The top stories in that category have hit counts in the 400,000 range. Those are, quite frankly, completely bonkers numbers in my decades-long fandom experience. Bucky/Sam is growing fast in popularity alongside TFATWS and currently boasts nearly 5,000 stories. Gorgeous fanart of “Sambucky” is proliferating on Twitter, with thousands of likes and retweets. All of this means a lot to many people.

Fans generally know that they’re not going to get the queer fandom pairings of their dreams from the studio mega-conglomerates anytime soon. But that doesn’t mean creatives have to rain on the fictional parade, either.

It’s a very real and very pressing matter that a large swath of dedicated MCU fans have—rightfully—lost patience waiting for queer representation onscreen, which we still have not witnessed in the movies (nor in the recent Disney+ series). We’re talking 23 giant cinematic events, with no confirmed queer characters encountered save that much-maligned Joe Russo Endgame cameo.

This is supposed to change in the future with Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie in Thor: Love & Thunder, Xochitl Gomez’s America Chavez in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and Brian Tyree Henry’s Phastos in The Eternals, which will also give us major queer characters of color. But that future isn’t here yet, and we have no idea how they’ll be shown therein. I do not trust Marvel Studios with queer characters any further than I can throw them.

To be clear, I’m talking about Marvel cinema and the new Marvel Studios-produced Disney+ series here; the Netflix Marvel TV shows, Hulu’s Marvel’s Runaways and ABC’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. did better in terms of having LGBTQIA+ representation present. Agents’ Joey Gutierrez (Juan Pablo Raba) was called “the first openly gay character in the MCU” upon his introduction.

Yet the presence of queer characters on these TV series demonstrates more starkly how absent they are from Marvel’s biggest productions. WandaVision introduces Wanda’s and Vision’s young son Billy, who is queer in the comics and may play a larger role in MCU’s Phase 4—but again, much of this is pending far-flung future development. The MCU is even worse when it comes to transgender representation, with a 2020 report that a trans hero was coming soon proving to be false. They are seriously lagging behind DC, which introduced Nicole Maines’ Nia Nal as the first trans superhero on television in 2018.

While we wait for much-needed MCU representation, fans have little time these days for the sort of genially diplomatic, “just dudes being bros” answer that Kari Skogland gives about Sam and Bucky’s closeness. For me this had strong “historians say these passionate love letters between two men were just how people used to talk to their friends in olden times” vibes.

“FAWS” fans also picked up on how Bucky’s aggressive banter with Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) included moments of considerable physical intimacy. Again, Skogland cautions not to read too much into it — or to necessarily assume that physical intimacy among men automatically connotes romantic or sexual tension.

“It’s really love, right?” she said. “They love each other — at the end. They don’t love each other at the beginning, but they come to a friendship place where they love each other. So I’m not really sensitive to masculinity as any kind of barrier between that love, or how it should manifest. I’m completely fluid when it comes to any of that. So there’s no defined sexuality to any of it. So it’s, really, I think, just affection.”

The thing is, it’s absolutely true that physical and emotional intimacy between men doesn’t have to connote romantic or sexual tension. But it is equally true that sometimes it does, and there’s nothing wrong with reading it that way, exploring it in transformative works, and wanting it to be canon. Especially when we have many, many instances in this canon of great same-sex friendships and zero queer relationships.

Fans have begun to push back on the, well, pushback they receive whenever someone responds to a popular queer ship with “Why can’t you just let them be friends?” There’s no dearth of friends, and in the MCU, no dearth of male friends who are physically affectionate and would die for each other and then travel back in time to marry a woman they kissed once, say. We’re doing just fine in terms of friends.

“Bruh every story written for the last like 300 years is about platonic male friendships,” a Twitter user wrote, adding wryly, “The only truly oppressed group is uh *checks writing on my hand* people with friends.”

For all the idiots pic.twitter.com/j7lr7FHU6l

— Mario❋BLM (yo destiel is canon wtf) (@MariVarvari) April 28, 2021

So if Bucky and Sam share smoldering looks and hugs and a central burgeoning relationship, and go for a roll in the grass, who’s to say there isn’t something more there?

Even Skogland has previously referred to the Sam/Bucky dynamic as the two of them being “a couple.”

this kari? pic.twitter.com/zSrlGdpTWC

— luiza (@lualmadab) April 28, 2021

All of this also begs the question: who would be hurt and what is the problem with making Bucky Barnes canonically bisexual? Or having the director or showrunner or writers express that maybe, just maybe, he might be? Several characters who have had heterosexual relationships in the comics have emerged as queer at a later date. Bucky’s primary comics romantic partner, Natasha Romanoff, is currently dead in the MCU, and the two have barely interacted.

bucky’s type : captain america

— li‎v ⩔ pang (@murphlovebot) April 23, 2021

It would be a simple matter to let Bucky be canonically bisexual. Over half of people who identify as “LGB” in America in a 2011 study identified as bisexual. 11% percent of American adults have reported same-sex attraction. This same study, from Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, estimates that there are more than 8 million “LGB” Americans, and it’s from 2011—I’d say there are a good deal more people who identify as queer now. This doesn’t even begin to factor in the global queer audience. Statistically speaking we’re vastly overdue a superhero who kisses across the gender spectrum and can also toss someone across the room with their super-strength in a major MCU property.

Now, since I can already hear the comments gearing up that say, “superhero stories aren’t supposed to be love stories” or “there are no romance plotlines on TFATWS anyway” again I must ask: what is the danger of having Bucky Barnes mention, in an offhand way, that he might be looking at pictures of both women and men as he struggles to navigate modern dating? Why is this such a seemingly impassable barrier for Marvel? It’s certainly not for actor Sebastian Stan, who launched his career playing queer characters on series like Kings and Political Animals.

A theme like this, even played subtly, would not have been out of step with The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which is already a show concerned with race, class, trauma, and global social inequities and took strides toward a brilliant and important historic update with our first Black Captain America.

The fact remains is that we’re still so starved for major onscreen queer representation from the MCU that we’re left with fandom’s findings and the subtext that we spot. When it comes down to it, this is all fiction, folks. But as we learn time and time again, fictional representation matters—even if it’s the representation we must create for ourselves in the void of finding it elsewhere.

There’s nothing to be gained, when that representation is so lacking, in adding fuel to the idea that characters are default heterosexual until proven otherwise by some canon-wielding authority. Let fans see what it means so much to see.

#FalconAndWinterSoldierFinale #FalconAndWinterSoldier

Bucky in 1940s: Bucky in 2025:
Ww2 soldier Cool bi uncle
Who fights nazis Who brings cakes pic.twitter.com/riw2Qh0ftm

— mary (fan account) (@marvelousxoxo) April 23, 2021

(via Variety, image: Marvel Studios/Disney+)

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The post I Am Begging You Not To Write Articles That Refute a Fictional Character’s Sexuality first appeared on The Mary Sue.

Things have been awfully quiet on the Matt Gaetz front lately. Last we checked in, the Florida representative was still being investigated by the Department of Justice for allegedly having sex with and trafficking an underage girl. His Venmo history supported claims that he’d paid multiple of-age but very young women for sex, using his huge mess of a friend Joel Greenberg as a go-between.

We also learned that Gaetz has been accused of being an absolute nightmare of a creep, with alleged workplace behaviors ranging from showing colleagues nude pictures and videos of women he’s slept with to making a contest out of trying to sleep with staffers, married colleagues, and others.

Gaetz’s alleged illegal activities (and the subsequent revelation of the depths of his creepiness) came out as part of a larger investigation into Greenberg’s many, many alleged felonies, for which he’s already been indicted. It was suspected that Greenberg was looking to turn on Gaetz in order to make a deal with federal prosecutors.

According to a confession letter and text messages obtained by the Daily Beast, Greenberg was in fact working to make a deal, but it wasn’t with the DOJ. It was with longtime Trump ally/real-life Batman villain Roger Stone.

The texts show that Stone was trying to help Greenberg obtain a pardon from Donald Trump, who was then still in office. In addition to being friends, Greenberg also offered to pay Stone $250,000 for his help.

“Today is the day. We will know by the end of the day,” Stone texted on the morning of January 13th—one week after the Capitol riot and one week before Trump’s term ended. “I hope you are prepared to wire me $250,000 because I am feeling confident.”

(Stone, by the way, denied to the Daily Beast that he tried to help Greenberg get a pardon and said he never requested or received money from him.)

Greenberg clearly did not get that pardon and in the texts with Stone, both of the men express frustration and confusion over Gaetz’s (whom they refer to as Matt or MG throughout) refusal to get involved.

“One conversation with POTUS and he can get this done and it all goes away,” Greenberg wrote, noting that Gaetz was like a “son” to Trump.

Greenberg told Stone that his former lawyers knew everything and thought Gaetz was going to get involved.

“My lawyers that I fired, know the whole story about MG’s involvement. They know he paid me to pay the girls and that he and I both had sex with the girl who was underage. So naturally they think that is my golden ticket,” one text reads.

Not only did Gaetz not help Greenberg but in a January 30th text (after Trump left office and was therefore unable to issue any more pardons), Stone told Greenberg that Gaetz “actually told me not to help you.”

Stone wrote in one text that he was confused why Gaetz wasn’t helping but that he also knew the congressman would be “potentially damaged if the matter goes forward.”

Stone was obviously right about that. Gaetz didn’t help his friend and he’s still been outed for his alleged crimes.

In the texts and in the ultimately pointless confession letter Greenberg wrote (of which the Daily Beast obtained multiple drafts), he says that one of the many young women that the two allegedly paid in exchange for sex was 17, although he claims they weren’t aware of that fact and that when they found out, they “confronted” her, she “apologized,” and the men cut off contact … until shortly after she turned 18.

My favorite part of this isn’t that Matt Gaetz paid an underage girl for sex – but that he was so “shocked and disturbed” by her age that he stopped fucking her for a few months until she turned 18 https://t.co/PUidvFcFhh pic.twitter.com/OGupL5f6jX

— Jessica Valenti (@JessicaValenti) April 30, 2021

The issue with Gaetz is not that he allegedly paid for sex. It’s that one of the dozens of very young women he is accused of having paid for sex was actually a child, and he absolutely should be prosecuted for that. That he and Greenberg made that child apologize to them for their alleged sexual relationship is abhorrent.

And Gaetz’s alleged habit of paying teenagers (even those who are legally of age) for sex is entirely indicative of the other sleazy behaviors we’ve heard about from his colleagues—his disrespect for women and his efforts to exploit power imbalances.

Despite his alleged crimes and his alleged non-criminal misconduct, there’s still no plan to launch an investigation by the House Judiciary Committee—which, by the way, Matt Gaetz serves on.

Dear @GOPLeader: Please remove Rep Matt Gaetz from the House Judiciary Committee immediately. The Committee has jurisdiction over the Department of Justice that is investigating Rep Gaetz, including allegedly for sex crimes with a minor. This is an untenable conflict of interest. https://t.co/H3ZzJYoCzs

— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) April 30, 2021

(via The Daily Beast, image: Drew Angerer/GettyImages)

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The post Matt Gaetz’s “Wingman” Joel Greenberg Allegedly Wrote a Full Confession Letter first appeared on The Mary Sue.

This season of Teen Mom OG has been crazy in so many ways that Mackenzie McKee's story has been overshadowed at times.

But make no mistake -- on camera and off, Mackenzie still knows how to bring the drama.

And now, she's participating in the most sacred of Teen Mom rituals by biting the hand that feeds her and attacking the producers of the show that made her famous.

As you're probably aware Mackenzie's mother passed away in December of 2019.

While it's been 18 months since Angie Douthit succumbed to cancer following a long, courageous battle, her family says the pain of losing her is as intense as it was the day it happened.

And many of those wounds were reopened by recent episodes of TMOG that documented Mackenzie and her family's grieving process.

Mackenzie says her father opened up about the pain of losing his wife while filming this year's TMOG reunion episodes.

And she says she was stunned when she watched the episodes and realized that those scenes were left on the cutting room floor. 

"My daddy poured his heart out when filming the reunion and opened up about grief and depression from missing his wife," McKee tweeted after the most recent installment aired.

"It was beautiful but they left it all out and focused on something else. I wish you all could have seen," she added.

It's not the first time that Mackenzie has expresses dissatisfaction with the show's producers, but never before has she been so specific in her complaints.

It doesn't appear as though she's received any sort of response from her TMOG bosses, but refusing to acknowledge such criticisms seems to be the show's policy.

This latest controversy comes on the heels of another public dispute between Mackenzie and her co-workers.

After she referred to Vice-President Kamala Harris as a "colored woman" in a Facebook post, McKee posted a video in which she lashed out against "cancel culture" and the people who sought an apology for her clumsy phrasing.

"If we write people off, cut them out and continue with this cancel culture that's not leaving room for growth," Mackenzie wrote.

"And if we're not leaving room for growth, we can't unite and come together.

"You guys are all chanting every day 'love', 'choose love', 'let's have peace' - we can't do that if we don't leave room for growth," she added.

“It’s time to have a conversation, a form, something to educate and enlighten because the ignorance is pervasive," Mackenzie's co-stat Cheyenne Floyd tweeted.

This infuriated McKee who seemed to feel personally called out by a tweet that spoke entirely in general terms.

"Cheyenne tweeted that I’m ignorant. I would’ve gone live with her, I would’ve gone on her podcast," McKee tweeted.

"I talked to Cheyenne, and I thought things were going to be amazing, but it was just a downward spiral from there..."

Needless to say, it sounds like Mackenzie is not on great terms with several people who are involved in the production of the show.

We guess if there's an upside to this situation, it's that Teen Mom OG ratings reached record lows this past season.

So soon enough there might not be a show for Mackenzie for beef with!

There are quite a few things in this world I love, but nothing as much as I love RuPaul’s Drag Race. I’ve seen the entire U.S. series, the first season available for the U.K. series, and I’m very excited about RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under. Airing on May 1st, the series is off to a rocking start with booking Taika Waititi as a guest judge!

While we haven’t seen the episode yet, pictures have emerged of Taika on the carpet for the show and honestly, this is going to be my kind of chaos.

HELLOOOOOOOOOOOO pic.twitter.com/AJqTfqQn1e

— hay (@mcuwaititi) April 30, 2021

On the U.S. version of RuPaul’s Drag Race, we had Jeff Goldblum’s chaotic energy guest judging and then I learned this week that Pedro Pascal watches and loves Drag Race, so Taika Waititi guest judging just makes me feel like I’m getting everything I’ve ever wanted.

The show has a very fun format: The queens normally have a mini-challenge and a maxi challenge. The maxi challenge includes a runway look and everything is judged by RuPaul, Michelle Visage, and the guest judges. Sometimes, the guest judges have bits throughout the show (like how Goldblum and Rachel Bloom were part of the “debate”) and I hope that’s what happens with Taika Waititi.

It seems the Thor: Love & Thunder director, who is from New Zealand, is extremely excited to be a part of the show too!

I’m honoured to be a guest judge on @RuPaul ‘s#DragRaceDownUnder which premieres TOMORROW!!! exclusively on @wowpresentsplus worldwide (excl Canada, UK, & Down Under), @tvnz in New Zealand, @stanaustralia in Australia, @cravecanada in Canada, & @bbcthree in UK
❤️💜💛💚💙👠👑🕶 pic.twitter.com/JtPFCIgo9h

— Taika Waititi (@TaikaWaititi) April 29, 2021

This is just the kind of energy that I love best on RuPaul’s Drag Race. Adding to this already-iconic look for Down Under, Australian singer Kylie Minogue has also been announced as a guest judge. As the show has gained popularity, celebrities have flocked to the series to judge—because in a true “Celebrities, they’re just like us!” move, they’re all fans of the show. And Taika Waititi has a very specific kind of energy and humor about him that I truly think will work great on the show. I can’t wait to see what he brings.

RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under premieres on May 1st and I’m ready to meet our queens, watch Taika Waititi guest judge, and see what Australia and New Zealand have in store for us.

(image: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

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We have an update on the arrest of Josh Duggar.

A troubling, disturbing, truly disgusting and heinous update on the arrest of Josh Duggar, to be more specific.

The former 19 Kids and Counting star, who was fired from that program in 2015 after confirming a leaked story that he molested his own sisters as a teenager, was taken into federal custody on Thursday.

At the time, there was no word on the charges he faced. Now there is.

Most observers believed that U.S. Marshals arrested Josh Duggar in connection with a raid in November 2019 on his since-closed-down used car dealership.

Back then, federal agents said there was some kind of investigation into Josh's business, though nothing official or legal came out of the raid.

We can now confirm, however, that Duggar is not accused of anything related to that business.

Instead, he's been charged with two counts of child pornography.

The father of six (whose wife just announced one week ago that she's pregnant with child number-seven) appeared before a judge on Friday.

He pleaded not guilty to charges of receiving and possessing child pornography.

According to legal documents obtained by TMZ, Duggar may never be a free man again.

He allegedly received this child pornography in May of 2019, downloading this sort of inappropriate material off the Internet himself.

To be specific, the disgraced reality star is accused of knowingly possessing images of child pornography.

Including images of minors below the age of 12.

It's absolutely incredible and yet, given his history, simultaneously not. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years of imprisonment and fines up to $250,000 on each count.

Duggar’s trial date is scheduled for Tuesday, July 6.

He will remain in custody at least for another week, until a detention hearing on May 5.

We can also confirm at this time that the Department of Homeland Security is involved in the case.

In what way? 

It sounds as if the aforementioned raid in 2019 on his car dealership may have stemmed from Josh using a computer at that address to download the illegal photos and videos.

Duggar was ordered on Friday to forfeit any material related to the case to authorities, including turning over any and all computer equipment.

Again. Just... wow, right?

We didn't think we could be any more shocked or grossed out at this point by Josh Duggar's behavior, and yet: Here we are.

To be clear and fair, of course, Duggar is entitled to due process and is innocent until proven guilty.

His past is not necessarily prologue.

Nothing from his younger days means that he for certain committed to atrocities described above.

But it's worth noting that Duggar confessed to inappropriately touching young girls back when he was 14 years old.

"I hurt others, including my family and close friends," he said in a 2015 statement.

"Twelve years ago, as a young teenager, I acted inexcusably for which I am extremely sorry and deeply regret."

"I confessed this to my parents who took several steps to help me address the situation," Josh added back then.

"We spoke with the authorities where I confessed my wrongdoing."

"My parents arranged for me and those affected by my actions to receive counseling."

It later came out that Josh attended a program of some kind run by a family friend who was in the home-modeling business.

"We watched him like all the time," said Jim Bob to Megyn Kelly six years ago of his role in covering up his oldest son's apparent crimes. "I took him to work with me. We just poured our life into him."

Also in 2015, Josh confessed to cheating on his wife.

He was outed at the time as a user of the website Ashley Madison, which arranged for spouses to cheat on their significant others with random men or women.

"I have been the biggest hypocrite ever," he said in a mea culpa for those actions.

"While espousing faith and family values, I have secretly over the last several years been viewing pornography on the internet and this became a secret addiction and I became unfaithful to my wife."

Perhaps pertinent to this arrest, Josh also claimed to have an addiction to pornography back then, even entering rehab for the problem.

"I am so ashamed of the double life that I have been living and am grieved for the hurt, pain and disgrace my sin has caused my wife and family," he said.

"And most of all Jesus and all those who profess faith in Him."

Anna has not yet commented on her husband's arrest.

Neither has Jesus.

"Do you understand what you've been charged with?" a judge asked Duggar over Zoom on Friday.

"Yes, your honor," he replied.

If these sick charges are legitimate - and according to reports, his family knew this was coming - he may never see the outside of a cell.

He has six children, and has already struggled to support them, despite Anna insisting he's a good provider and that they can afford it.

Anna is currently pregnant with the couple's seventh child.

We can't imagine what must be going through her mind right now.

More news on this horrifying story as it breaks.