Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court Hearings Off to a Tense, Frenzied Start

Why is the writers strike happening?

Writers in the entertainment industry (represented by the Writers Guild of America) are demanding fair wages from the bigger Hollywood studios (represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers). The strike began on May 2 at 12:01 because the contracts ended at midnight.

Where is the strike?

Picket lines are in New York City and Los Angeles.

What shows will be impacted by writers strike 2023?

In addition to SNL, other late-night television shows are being immediately affected, includingThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and Late Night with Seth Meyers.

We don't know yet whether the upcoming seasons of scripted shows and movies will be affected.

Has this happened before?

Yes. During the 2007-2008 television season, the WGA went on strike for the same reason they're on strike right now: fair compensation.

What happens during a writers strike?

During the writers strike, television and film writers that are a part of the WGA stop working until they can reach a fair contract with the larger studios. The 2007-2008 strike lasted from November 2007 until February of 2008.

Is the writers strike 2023 over?

Yes, the writers' strike is officially over! On September 24, after five straight days of negotiation, the WGA and the larger studios + streamers finally came to a tentative agreement on a brand new three-year contract. If they end up signing the contract, the writers' strike (which has lasted for 146 days) will finally come to an end. Picketing officially ended Sunday night, and after the WGA councils voted to agree to AMPTA's contract, the writer's strike officially ended at 12:01 September 27.

Late night shows like The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon and Saturday Night Live, as well as daytime talk shows like The Kelly Clarkson Show, can now return to air. That means we could see brand new episodes by the first week of October!

However, because other scripted programs are still being affected by the SAG-AFTRA actors' strike, production and post-production for your favorite TV series and movies is still at a standstill.

Danielle Staub and Margaret Josephs (RHONJ)

The two started off as friends during Season 8 of RHONJ (Margaret was even a bridesmaid in Danielle's wedding to Marty Caffrey!), but their friendship fell apart as the years passed. Things came to a head in Season 10 when Danielle pulled Margaret's hair, attempted to drag her to the ground, poured water on her head and dumped the contents of Margaret's purse into a $600 lit candle. It's safe to say things haven't improved much since then.

Brandi Glanville, Kyle Richards and Kim Richards (RHOBH)

RHOBH game nights never end well, that's for sure. After calling Kyle a "b*tch" and implying that Kim was "wasted" (Kim has a history of struggling with her sobriety), Brandi found herself in the middle of the Richards sisters' wrath. Kyle eventually retaliated with dozens of petty comments, one of which mentioned Brandi's son, who during a party peed on the lawn. Obviously, Brandi wasn't happy that her child was a topic of conversation. Their retaliatory comments devolved into a slew of now-famous insults, with Kim referring to Brandi as "trailer park trash," Brandi responding with "at least I don't do crystal meth in the bathroom, and Kim calling Brandi "a sl*t pig." How lovely!

The women are actually friendly today, with Brandi telling Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live that she "loves Kim, Kyle and Kathy."

Margaret Josephs and Jennifer Aydin (RHONJ)

As fans can recall, Jennifer has never been Margaret's biggest fan. Things really kicked into high gear when Margaret revealed Jennifer's husband's (Bill Aydin) affair while she was nine months pregnant with her youngest son. No one outside of the couple knew about his indiscretion, leading to a domino effect that tore through Jennifer's family. Though they have (kind of) made up since the explosive news, it doesn't seem like a strong friendship is meant to be.

Kim Zolciak and NeNe Leakes (RHOA)

Ahhhh, cockroach-gate. How could we ever forget?! The incident started in 2017 after Kim's daughter Brielle alleged she found cockroaches in NeNe’s home. NeNe quickly slammed the 20-year-old Brielle over claims of “prejudice” after the mother-daughter visit, resurfacing an old video filmed by Brielle in NeNe’s bathroom, documenting what appeared to be large, black insects.

“@briellebiermann We don’t have roaches! If you found 1, u brought it with u or it fell outta yo funky p*ssy!” NeNe wrote on Instagram in a now-deleted post. “Go somewhere and let the air outta those fake lips, fake titties and fake a** because you will never be [@kyliejenner]. Yo trashy mama should have taught you better! My home is Brand New but you guys were so jealous of it, you couldn’t even give a compliment. You had to stoop so low and be so disgusting #racisttrash.”

That wasn't all, though. In the comments section of a separate Instagram account, NeNe called Kim a “calculating [bipolar] racist with a horrible mouth, who uses black folks for her come up.”

Kim quickly jumped to her daughter’s defense via Instagram and lawyered up. The two women are not friendly today.

Jen Shah and Meredith Marks (RHOSLC)

This is one feud that was not settled quietly. During an ice fishing excursion, Meredith gave it to the now-convicted felon straight, saying, “there are homophobic tweets regarding my son’s sexuality that you have ‘liked.’ It is really painful,” she began. “I was told about a Zoom that you hosted where you were questioning him coming out and his sexuality.” Meredith was rightfully infuriated over Jen's passive "attacks" on her 21-year-old son, Brooks. After several episodes of icy tension, Jen apologized to Brooks, and their friendship began to mend.

Larsa Pippen and Dr. Nicole Martin (RHOM)

Larsa clearly hasn't learned her lesson. When she stoops low, Nicole always goes higher. For whatever reason, Larsa decided to make Nicole her metaphorical "punching bag" throughout the most recent seasons, going as far as to call Nicole's young son a "bastard child" and say that Nicole doesn't have a job. To clarify, DOCTOR Nicole certainly has a job — a high ranking one. Nicole is a self-made anesthesiologist, a far cry from Larsa's income as a NBA divorcee and OnlyFans model (no shame in that, BTW). Their feud remains ongoing, with little resolution (and plenty of pettiness) in sight.

Brandi Glanville and Denise Richards (RHOBH)

Brandi is not one to stay in the shadows for long. In true Brandi-fashion, the former Housewife briefly returned in Season 10 to share some, uh, unexpected news. According to Brandi, she had an ongoing affair with the newly-married Denise Richards, a Housewife at the time, much to the surprise of literally everyone.

Brandi claimed that Denise was “sexually aggressive” toward her when they first met in 2018, leading to a passionate affair. Denise has adamantly denied all of Brandi's allegations of a past tryst, though it certainly hasn't stopped Brandi from sharing more details.

Porsha Williams and NeNe Leakes (RHOA)

This duo has had their fair share of ups and downs throughout the years. Their feud started in Season 8 when Porsha claimed NeNe physically grabbed her during the OG's infamous closet meltdown. None of their co-stars commented on the push, and Leakes denied the allegation, though it didn't stop her from retaliating. NeNe fired back at Porsha with a series of "angry, aggressive text messages" criticizing her weight just six days after Porsha gave birth to her first child. After Porsha shared the texts on Instagram, NeNe allegedly responded with a cease and desist.

But don't worry, they're BFFs today!

Lisa Rinna and Kim Richards (RHOBH)

Quite possibly the most iconic Housewives feud is that of Kim Richards and Lisa Rinna’s “Bunnygate.” The two were never quite friends, a fact that was cemented following Lisa’s questioning of Kim’s sobriety in Season 5. Lisa apologized during a dinner in Amsterdam — an apology that Kim did not accept. Rather, Kim implied she knew something about Lisa’s husband, Harry Hamlin, leading Lisa to throw her wine glass at Kim and utter the famous words, “don’t you ever go after my f*cking husband.”

Things between the two women escalated again in Season 7 after Lisa said that Kim is “close to dying,” which she adamantly denied throughout much of the season. Kim had other ideas, however, and infamously shut down the possibility of a friendship by returning the bunny Lisa bought for Kim’s grandson at the Season 7 reunion. During this encounter, Lisa shed a single tear.

To no one’s surprise, Lisa and Kim aren’t friends today, though they sort of agreed to put the past behind them.

Teresa Giudice and Melissa Gorga (RHONJ)

This sister showdown has dominated our screens since the very beginning. When Melissa joined her sister-in-law on Season 3 of RHONJ, fans quickly learned that the two women did not get along. Like at all. After an argument between Teresa and her brother, Joe Gorga (Melissa's husband), turned into a physical fight between Joe and Teresa’s husband at the time (coincidentally also named Joe), things never really reconciled. The tension continued after Melissa brought sprinkle cookies to Christmas, which was apparently deeply offensive to Teresa.

More recently, Teresa did not ask Melissa to be a bridesmaid in her wedding to Luis Ruelas (despite having Luis's sisters in the wedding), invite Melissa’s family to her wedding, and proceeded to spread rumors about Melissa cheating on Joe. In the aftermath, neither Melissa nor Joe attended Teresa's August 2022 wedding, and the families are at arm's length.

Lisa Vanderpump, Dorit Kemsley and Kyle Richards (RHOBH)

Puppygate saw the end of LVP on RHOBH, and we’re still not over it. In Season 9, Lisa claimed that Dorit returned a puppy she adopted from Lisa’s Vanderpump Dogs rescue to a kill shelter, forcing the other women to take sides in the disagreement.

Dorit claimed that the puppy bit her husband (who happened to be longtime friends with Lisa) and other family members, leading them to rehome the dog with an acquaintance, and that person must have brought it to a shelter, While Dorit eventually apologized to Lisa, their relationship was too far gone and the feud shifted towards whether Lisa leaked the story to the press. Kyle Richards, who was then Lisa’s BFF and friend to Dorit, took Dorit’s side, ultimately ending her decades-long friendship with Lisa in a blowout fight. “Goodbye, Kyle!”

Lisa quit the show before the reunion, denying that she spoke about the dog to the media. While Dorit and Kyle are besties today, neither are close to Lisa.

Vicki Gunvalson and Kelly Dodd (RHOC)

We can’t mention conflict without thinking of Vicki and Kelly. When Kelly joined the show for Season 11, she and Vicky became fast friends. It wasn’t long before that relationship turned sour, with Kelly calling Vicky, who owns an insurance company, a “con woman” who “preys on old people.” This comment turned into a lawsuit, with Vicki claiming “defamation, libel, trade libel, interference with actual and prospective economic business advantage, false light and injunctive relief.” Not surprisingly, the lawsuit was lived, as it took less than a month for Vicki to drop the charges so that she could attend the Season 13 reunion show. The reunion only led to more conflict (if you can even believe it) as the women accused one another of doing drugs.

Somehow, the pair made amends in 2021 following Vicki’s decision to leave the show in 2020 and Kelly’s dismissal.

Porsha Williams and Kenya Moore (RHOA)

Porsha and Kenya got off to a rocky start in Season 5 after Porsha referred to the former Miss USA as Miss America (Which is apparently offensive? We can't say.). The drama continued, with Kenya accusing Porsha of cheating on her ex-husband Kordell Stewart, both women accusing each other of being whores, Porsha pulling Kenya’s hair leading to a physical fight, Kenya demanding that Porsha be fired from the show, you know — typical friend behavior.

Not surprisingly, the two aren't friends today, with the Season 12 reunion ending with Porsha calling Kenya a “fake friend.”

Kim Richards, Kyle Richards and Kathy Hilton (RHOBH)

Bravo loves a family feud, and the Richards sister gave it their all. The lowest point in the sisters’ relationship came during the Season 1 finale of RHOBH after Kim, who was no longer sober, accused Kyle and her husband Mauricio Umansky of "stealing [her] goddamn house." While the sisters struggled to move past their infamous limo fight, their relationship remained rocky over the years. This led to a on-and-off-again relationship between Kyle and her other sister, Kathy Hilton, who seemed to side with Kim in many of the arguments.

Bethenny Frankel and Jill Zarin (RHONY)

Bethenny is certainly forthright, occasionally rubbing her fellow Housewives the wrong way. Such is true following Season 2, where the former BFFs stopped speaking for months, supposedly because Jill felt Bethenny was getting more attention than her. The friends got into it throughout Season 3, after Bethenny accused Jill of being jealous of her success. Jill, meanwhile, slammed Bethenny for not being present as her late husband, Bobby Zarin, battled cancer.

Today, the pair have seemingly “made up,” at least to some degree. After years of not speaking, Jill appeared on Bethenny’s podcast, “Just B with Bethenny Frankel.” “I was surprised, but I wasn’t gonna be impulsive,” Jill said of getting the request to appear on the podcast to Us Weekly. “Maybe because I’m medicated now and I wasn’t 13 years ago — in a good way. I have anxiety. I definitely had an anxiety disorder when you knew me, for sure.” Jill continued, saying that she was initially hesitant to say yes, but her daughter encouraged her to do it. “And that’s it,” Jill recalled. “That’s all it took.”

Vicki Gunvaalson and Gretchen Rossi (and Slade Smiley) (RHOC)

With a RHOC tenure of 13 years, Vicki was bound to enter conflict at one time or another. And she certainly did. While the friction between the two women was ongoing, it came to a head during an 80s theme party in Season 7. Gretchen’s BF at the time, Slade, made several comments about Vicki’s looks, leading to an intense shouting match between the pair.

Dorit Kemsley and Camille Grammer (RHOBH)

The women of RHOBH are known for their feuds, but the one between Camille and (at the time) relative newbie Dorit tops the list. Despite a number of digs towards one another, things really escalated when Camille accused Dorit’s husband “PK” of being over a million dollars in debt, which launched a history of petty drama between the two. Dorit fired back on several occasions, at one point completely randomly (and somewhat hilariously) calling Camille a “stupid c*nt.” Why she said that at the time — nobody knows, but it certainly made for great TV.

Porsha Williams and Kandi Burruss (RHOA)

After a make-out session during Season 9 of RHOA, Kandi claimed Porsha wanted to have sex with her. As a result, Porsha clapped back with a series of her own accusations, including alleging that Kandi's husband was unfaithful, the couple had a sex dungeon and that Kandi previously dated a woman (which isn't a bad thing, BTW). Porsha took it a step further, alleging that someone told her Kandi and Todd planned to drug her to take advantage of her, which Kandi adamantly denied. Somehow, the two women seem OK today, even co-starring in an MTV comedy, Pretty Stoned.

Teresa Giudice and Danielle Staub (RHONJ)

Teresa and Danielle's feud gifted RHONJ fans one of the most memorable moments in Housewives history: Teresa's infamous table flip. After the Season 1 cast discovered a book about Danielle's shady past, the women confronted her, with Teresa accusing Danielle of being a "prostitution whore, [who was] f*cking engaged nineteen times" and flipped the dinner table over. Their feud continued throughout Season 2, leading Teresa to get into Danielle's face (and subsequently push host Andy Cohen) after Danielle accused Teresa of not being there for her family.

Candiace Dillard and Monique Samuels (RHOP)

Despite starting off on good terms, Candiace and Monique’s relationship turned bitter. The duo engaged in a couple of physical or near-physical fights, which both women now regret.

“Anytime you get physical, that’s taking it to a whole other level. That’s real life,” Monique explained during an episode of Us Weekly‘s Getting Real with the Housewives podcast. “I took that [moment] very seriously, because I’ve not been in any physical altercation since I was in grade school. I’m 36 years old. I have three kids and a whole husband. So, I’m like, ‘This is insane.’ It allowed me to go on a journey of just looking at certain things from childhood or just trying to figure out what are my triggers."

Yulin Kuang's Journey To "How To End A Love Story"

Some people seem to be born knowing they're destined to right, but some of us stumble into it and realize, "Hey, I'm pretty good at this." For Yulin, her journey to her debut novel How to End a Love Story takes the latter route. Her first dream, you make ask? To be an Olympic figure skater.

"...that didn't pan out so I turned to storytelling," Yulin admits. That pivot led her to set her sights on becoming an author as she began honing her creative writing skills via your classic marble composition notebooks. If you're still wondering if she kept some of them, the answer is yes!

The screenwriter and author then found herself drawn to other aspects of writing and film. She says, "I eventually fell in love with screenwriting and directing while in undergrad at Carnegie Mellon, and I spent my first decade post-grad concentrating on my filmmaking career."

Yulin Kuang's Approach To Filmmaking

It's a reason why her hard work and the stars aligned for her to adapt Emily Henry's Beach Read and People We Meet on Vacation.

When I ask what helps her approach the book-to-film trajectory, she credits writing fan fiction. This feels similar to Christina Lauren's own experience, further proving that fan fiction deserves the utmost praise for helping some of the best literary and film minds who ultimately birth what I could only describe as masterpieces.

Yulin says, "Fan fiction is where I first learned you could play with characters originated by someone else to discover what you’d make them do in your own version." Although it would be easy for anyone to snap their fingers and have their first pitches accepted by everyone, she learned to lean on what writing fan fiction taught her.

"Early in my career, I would pitch on book-to-film adaptations and I’d be like, 'Change nothing, just shoot the book!' And I wouldn’t get those jobs, because I didn’t have a clear “take” and because you can’t actually just shoot a book – adaptation is an art form unto itself. So onceI started approaching adaptation with more of a fan fiction mindset – 'What is my take on these characters and this world?' – that helped me approach the book-to-screen trajectory more successfully," she proudly says.

However, this doesn't mean she never questioned if she could still find ways to create new ideas. "...in 2021, at a time when everything else I was working on was an adaptation, I found myself wondering if I had anything original left within me," she remembers.

It's natural for creatives to experience moments of doubt, but Yulin has been able to turn the tide and discover untapped ideas in her mind. Just don't expect her to set her own expectations about any adaptations she's working on.

She says, "Know that I am an avid reader of romance and a frequent consumer of this genre across mediums, and I will be bringing everything I know going into these adaptations. But more specifically to Beach Read, which I have more creative ownership over as the writer/director."

How Yulin Kuang Relates To Her Main Characters In "How To End A Love Story"

And since How to End a Love Story is truly Yulin's own creative body of work, it makes sense that main characters Helen and Grant have pieces of her personality as well as her characteristics.

"I gave Helen all my hopes and insecurities from high school and gave her the alternate universe path where I had pursued publishing instead of Hollywood. I examined what might have happened if I’d grown into certain qualities I’ve actively tried to grow away from," she says of Helen Zhang.

Right away, readers get the sense that Helen is a whip-smart and hardworking, but her penchant for being cautious about her success also peeks through. Though she's written highly successful YA (read: young adult) novels, Helen waits with bated breath for the moment people will call her bluff. She's relatable because many of us wonder if we're simply cosplaying as versions of ourselves who've reached any level of success.

On the other hand, there's Grant Shepard. He's seemingly this cool, calm, and collected screenwriter who has a complicated past with Helen. Yulin says, "I gave Grant a lot of the qualities I’m proud of and/or have coveted as a working screenwriter, and I certainly relate to many of his thoughts on screenwriting and the current state of our industry."

The more the reader learns about Helen and Grant, the more it becomes obvious that there's more to them than meets the eye. Sure, they are complicated...but who isn't?

"At their core, Helen and Grant are just two kids from Jersey trying to make it in Hollywood, and of course I relate deeply to that," she says.

Yulin Kuang's View Of Rom-Coms

Based on Yulin's genuine interest in romance novels and the fact she's well-versed in adapting them, she knows what it takes to make rom-coms flourish. Her first take? "Romantic tension is key to any romance – I always need to know why our couple can’t be together now. The second that tension is gone, so is audience interest," she points out.

This explains why we can't get enough of reading books about it, listening to albums dedicated to it, or watching films that depict all levels of romance. Still, there are some people who approach the genre with a side eye.

"There seems to be a natural human suspicion of things that make us feel too good – like, 'That can’t possibly be good for us, that’s just candy!' I wonder if it’s something evolutionary at work," she says before doubling down. "You can’t argue with the fact that people absolutely fucking love rom-coms, and I will die on the hill that a well-earned happily ever after is both harder to achieve and more narratively satisfying when it’s pulled off successfully."

She's the type of writer who really appreciates a big kiss that's handled correctly onscreen, but she's also not afraid to "groan every time it's fumbled." But, she knows everyone still won't see romance the way she and so many others view it, but she doesn't really care.

"Ultimately, I don’t concern myself too much with changing minds that don’t want to be changed.There are enough smart people who recognize the power and value of rom-coms, and I’d rather spend my precious time creating art to surprise and delight the people with good taste."

Need I say that this is yet another reason why How to End a Love Story works so well?

How Yulin Kuang Wishes The World Would Celebrate AAPI Month

As much as she's vocal about screenwriting and rom-coms, Yulin also has thoughts about the way society-at-large talks about BIPOC creative artists. "There’s a real, 'This is important, eat your vegetables,' vibe to things. And while that might be true, it’s not the most appealing way to market or discover art," she says.

She admits this could be due to how many diversity-in-film panels she's attended. As a Black woman, the conversations I see every year during Black History Month seem to have a certain "Let's check this box so everyone can be happy" vibe, so I can imagine attending panels about diversity and inclusion can start to sound repetitive after awhile.

Yulin doesn't hold back when she says, "I’m a little jaded when people ask me diversity questions at this point. I don’t want to attract the kind of readers who are only showing up to be supportive of my Asian-ness. It’s a bit like showing up to a date where someone says, 'I’m so excited that you’re Asian!!!'" This is an analogy I can so get behind because it makes a lot of sense!

It's one thing to have representation, but I like to think it's always obvious when people are approaching the conversation in a way that 'others' BIPOC people. We're literally not asking for a trophy, but more so an acknowledgement that we shouldn't be excluded from conversations, spaces, and careers or treated differently.

This sentiment is shared by Yulin who says, "That’s the thing about me that I didn’t do on purpose, and while I’m glad you’re excited, I hope there are things that I did do on purpose that you find exciting, too" and feels there is a way to be a genuine ally.

"...support AAPI creatives by all means, and perhaps begin by celebrating us as individual artists even after the designated month ends. And where applicable, talk about our work like it’s candy, not vegetables. I’d rather be irresistible than important," she states.

Take a page from Yulin Kuang's book and pick up a copy of How to End a Love Story today! You won't regret it!