This article takes a detailed look at Watts’ current whereabouts, the prison he calls home, how his daily routine unfolds, and the strange, often unsettling details that have emerged about his life as an inmate — from his newfound religious identity to his ongoing correspondence with women who write to him from the outside world.

A Quick Recap: What Chris Watts Did

Before diving into his current circumstances, it’s worth briefly revisiting the case that made his name infamous. In the early hours of August 13, 2018, in the small town of Frederick, Colorado, Watts strangled his 34-year-old wife, Shanann, who was 15 weeks pregnant with their third child, a boy the couple planned to name Nico. He then suffocated their two young daughters, four-year-old Bella and three-year-old Celeste. <cite index=”4-1″>Watts buried Shanann’s body in a shallow grave near an oil-storage site and placed his daughters’ bodies inside crude-oil tanks, each with an opening only eight inches in diameter.</cite>

Watts initially told investigators and reporters that his wife and daughters had simply vanished, even appearing in televised interviews pleading for their safe return. That fabricated narrative collapsed within days. After his arrest, he admitted to killing Shanann, and eventually confessed to killing his daughters as well. <cite index=”4-1″>On November 6, 2018, Watts pleaded guilty to multiple counts of first-degree murder as part of a plea agreement that took the death penalty off the table, and he was sentenced to five life terms without the possibility of parole, three of which are served consecutively.</cite> The case drew such intense scrutiny partly because of the brutality of the killings, and partly because Watts had been carrying on an affair with a coworker at the time.

Where Chris Watts Is Incarcerated Today

Chris Watts is not serving his sentence in Colorado, where his crimes took place and where he was originally convicted. Instead, <cite index=”4-1″>on December 3, 2018, Watts was transferred out of state due to security concerns, arriving two days later at Dodge Correctional Institution, a maximum-security prison in Waupun, Wisconsin, where he remains today.

The transfer wasn’t unusual for a case of this notoriety. Under a legal mechanism known as the Interstate Corrections Compact, states can move high-profile or high-risk inmates to another state’s prison system when housing them locally poses a security threat. Colorado officials determined that Watts’ fame — or infamy — made him a serious target for violence from other inmates, so he was relocated under this compact, with Colorado covering the costs associated with the transfer.

Dodge Correctional Institution has a notable history of its own. The facility was once a state psychiatric hospital known as the Central State Hospital for the Criminally Insane before it was converted into a prison. Over the years it has housed other high-profile inmates, including serial killer Ed Gein and Jake Patterson, the man convicted of kidnapping Jayme Closs and murdering her parents. A spokesperson for the Wisconsin Department of Corrections has confirmed to People magazine that Watts has been incarcerated there continuously since his 2018 transfer.

What Watts’ Daily Routine Looks Like

Life inside a maximum-security prison is, by design, tightly structured and largely uneventful — and by most accounts, Watts’ daily existence fits that mold. According to reporting from People magazine, which cited a Wisconsin Department of Corrections spokesperson, Watts is held in general population rather than isolation, and he is permitted to exercise once or twice a day on weekdays, depending on the schedule.

Watts reportedly works as a custodian within the prison, a job that gives him a structured routine and, presumably, a small amount of income to spend at the commissary. Sources have described him as keeping largely to himself, avoiding eye contact with other inmates, and generally staying out of the way of the broader prison population — likely a survival strategy given his status as a convicted child-killer, a label that tends to make inmates targets even within a prison environment. As one outlet summarized, fellow prisoners reportedly view him with particular contempt because of the nature of his crimes.

Physically, Watts has changed noticeably since his arrest. Multiple reports note that he has gained weight and lost much of his hair since entering custody, a common transformation for long-term inmates whose diets and routines shift dramatically compared to life on the outside.

Beyond his work assignment and exercise time, Watts is said to spend much of his time reading and writing letters — an activity that has become one of the more talked-about aspects of his incarceration.

Watts’ Religious Transformation

One of the most consistent threads running through coverage of Watts’ prison life is his claimed religious conversion. According to legal representatives for Shanann’s family, Watts has described himself as having become a born-again Christian while incarcerated, and he keeps a Bible in his cell. He reportedly participates in Bible study sessions offered within the prison.

In letters that have surfaced publicly, Watts has framed his post-conviction identity in explicitly religious terms. He has described himself as a changed man, invoking scripture to argue that his past actions no longer define him. Whether this transformation is genuine or a calculated attempt to reshape his public image remains a matter of intense public skepticism — particularly among true-crime audiences who point out that expressions of remorse from convicted murderers, especially those involving the deaths of children, are often viewed with suspicion by both the public and the families of victims.

Notably, Watts has reportedly gone further than simply describing personal faith — he has, according to a report citing letters exchanged with a woman identified only as Deborah, compared his own suffering to that of a religious martyr, suggesting his imprisonment is somehow part of a divine plan for his life. Statements like these have only deepened public fascination with — and often disdain for — how Watts has chosen to present himself since his conviction.

The Women Who Write to Him

Perhaps the strangest and most widely reported aspect of Watts’ incarceration is the volume of correspondence he receives from women on the outside — a phenomenon not entirely uncommon among high-profile convicted killers, but one that has drawn particular attention in his case given the nature of his crimes.

Reports dating back to 2022 describe Watts corresponding regularly with multiple women, some of whom reportedly send him letters and photographs. This kind of attention toward incarcerated men convicted of violent crimes is a well-documented, if uncomfortable, cultural phenomenon sometimes referred to in pop culture as “prison groupie” behavior. In Watts’ case, sources have suggested he has leaned into these relationships, engaging in extended correspondence with several different women simultaneously, even while framing himself as a reformed, spiritually devoted figure.

More recent reporting indicates this pattern has continued for years. Coverage from early 2026 described ongoing exchanges between Watts and a woman who said she had been writing to him since 2022, in which he discussed his religious beliefs and, at times, appeared to draw a boundary around the relationship by invoking his faith as the reason they could not be together.

This dynamic — professed religious devotion paired with an active, ongoing correspondence with multiple women — has struck many observers as difficult to reconcile, and it continues to fuel tabloid and true-crime coverage of his case years after his conviction.

Family Photos and Prison Belongings

Another detail that has occasionally made headlines involves Watts’ personal possessions in his cell. Reporting has indicated that he has kept photographs of his late wife and daughters with him in prison, a detail that proved controversial when it became public. There were reportedly attempts, including efforts connected to Shanann’s family, to have those photographs removed from his cell, but the Wisconsin Department of Corrections determined it had no legal grounds to confiscate them, since inmates are generally permitted to possess photographs unless they violate specific prohibitions, such as depicting gang symbols or nudity.

Watts has also received conduct reports during his incarceration for infractions such as unauthorized communication and possession of contraband — relatively minor violations by prison standards, but ones that indicate he has not had a spotless disciplinary record since his transfer to Wisconsin.

Continued Public Fascination

Years after the murders, public interest in the case has shown little sign of fading. A 2019 Netflix documentary reignited widespread attention to the story, introducing the case to a new generation of true-crime viewers who hadn’t followed it in real time. Sources close to the situation have suggested the documentary’s release was difficult for Watts personally, with one insider describing it as having visibly affected him.

Anniversaries of the murders continue to generate fresh media coverage each August, and outlets ranging from mainstream publications to tabloids regularly revisit the case with updates on Watts’ prison life, his correspondence, and any new developments — however minor — in his circumstances. This sustained interest reflects a broader cultural fascination with domestic-violence cases that unfold publicly, particularly ones involving children, and with the psychology of perpetrators who, like Watts, initially presented themselves to the world as devastated, cooperative victims before their guilt was exposed.

Will Chris Watts Ever Be Released?

The short answer is no. Watts is serving five consecutive and concurrent life sentences without the possibility of parole — a sentencing structure specifically designed to ensure he will never be eligible for release. Colorado abolished the death penalty in 2020, a change that came after Watts’ sentencing, but his plea agreement had already taken capital punishment off the table in exchange for his guilty plea and cooperation in revealing the locations of his family’s remains.

Barring an extraordinary and highly unlikely legal development, Chris Watts will spend the remainder of his life incarcerated at Dodge Correctional Institution or another facility within the Wisconsin or Colorado prison systems. His case stands as one of the most notorious domestic murder cases of the past decade, and his prison life — from his custodial job to his religious reinvention to his correspondence with strangers — continues to be scrutinized by a public that has never quite looked away.

Conclusion

Chris Watts’ story didn’t end with his sentencing in November 2018 — at least not in terms of public interest. Today, he remains confined at Dodge Correctional Institution in Waupun, Wisconsin, living out a tightly regimented existence as a custodian and general-population inmate, marked by a claimed religious conversion, a steady stream of letters from women outside prison walls, and the quiet, permanent reality of a life sentence with no path to freedom. For the family and friends of Shanann, Bella, and Celeste, his continued incarceration offers a measure of justice, even as the broader public continues to revisit the case, searching for answers to a tragedy that remains as haunting today as it was when it first made headlines.

The post Where Is Chris Watts Now? Inside His Life in Prison Years After the Murders appeared first on Cream.

It’s one of the most surprising true stories to come out of the Robertson family, and it only grew more emotionally significant after Phil’s death in May 2025. Here’s the full story of how Phil Robertson’s daughter was found, how the family responded, and where she stands today.

Phil Robertson’s Family Before the Discovery

Phil Robertson married Kay in 1966, and together they raised four sons during years marked by hardship, Phil’s early struggles with alcohol, and the couple’s eventual return to faith — a story chronicled repeatedly on “Duck Dynasty” and in the family’s books. Al, Jase, Willie, and Jep grew the family business from a homemade duck call into a multimillion-dollar company and, later, an A&E reality television phenomenon that ran from 2012 to 2017.

For years, that was the family tree as the public knew it: four sons, their wives, and a growing number of grandchildren. Nothing suggested there was another child out there.

The DNA Test That Changed Everything

The story begins not with Phil, but with a woman named Phyllis, who grew up believing a different man was her biological father. In 2017, a DNA test taken by her own son produced results that didn’t match the family history she’d always been told. Confused, Phyllis started digging.

By November 2019, further DNA testing confirmed what she suspected: the man who raised her was not her biological father. Rather than let the mystery sit, Phyllis began quietly researching names connected to her mother’s past. Her mother was initially evasive when Phyllis raised the subject, but eventually, after Phyllis had already uncovered several family names on her own, her mother confirmed it: her biological father was Phil Robertson.

Phyllis’s mother and Phil had been involved in a relationship in the 1970s, decades before “Duck Dynasty” made the Robertson name a household one. Phil, it turned out, had no idea Phyllis existed.

The Letter, the Test, and the Reunion

Rather than reaching out privately or through an intermediary, Phyllis chose a bold approach: she hand-delivered a letter to the church where the Robertson family worships, on a Sunday when Phil himself was preaching. That letter set everything in motion.

Phil agreed to take a DNA test, and within days, the results came back as a 99.9% match. Two to three weeks later, in February 2020, Phil met Phyllis in person for the first time. He was 74 years old; Phyllis was in her mid-40s.

Phil later discussed the discovery publicly on his “Unashamed” podcast, telling listeners about the daughter he never knew he had — a revelation that made national headlines and turned Phyllis Robertson Thomas into a household name almost overnight among “Duck Dynasty” fans.

How the Robertson Family Reacted

What could have been an awkward or divisive moment for a famously faith-driven family instead became a story of acceptance. Al Robertson, the eldest of Phil and Kay’s sons, was among the first to publicly confirm and embrace his newfound sister, telling reporters about the family’s excitement over the discovery.

Perhaps most remarkably, Miss Kay — Phil’s wife of decades, and the woman who might have had every reason to resent a child born of her husband’s affair — welcomed Phyllis wholeheartedly. In a Facebook post from June 2022, Kay wrote that Phyllis Robertson Thomas was “the daughter I always prayed for,” a line that captured just how completely the family folded her into their circle.

Sadie Robertson and Korie Robertson, both prominent public-facing members of the extended family, also embraced Phyllis as the family worked to build relationships across a generational and emotional gap that had existed, unknowingly, for 45 years.

Who Is Phyllis Robertson Thomas?

Beyond her connection to Phil, Phyllis has her own well-established life. She married her husband, Tony Thomas, just two weeks after finishing high school. Tony is an artist and owns Tony Thomas Art, and the couple helped open the Courtyard on Cotton Gallery in Louisiana.

Phyllis and Tony have two sons, Grant and Joel. Grant married Julie in 2022, and the couple has two children of their own, Theo (born 2022) and Harry (born 2024). Joel is married to Kendall; the two met and married in Missouri before relocating to the Monroe, Louisiana area — closer to the rest of the Robertson clan.

In a move that speaks to how quickly and completely the family bonded, Phyllis and Tony made the decision to relocate to West Monroe, Louisiana, settling in next door to Phil and Miss Kay. The move let Phyllis spend her father’s remaining years building the kind of closeness that most families take a lifetime — not a few years — to develop.

Phyllis and Phil’s Relationship Before His Death

Phil Robertson was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2024, and his health declined over the following months. He died on May 25, 2025, at age 79. In his final days, family members described moments of clarity amid the disease’s progression — including an account from son Jase, who said that when he told his father he would soon meet Jesus, Phil grabbed his hand and said, “Let’s go… take me, take me.” He died the next day.

Before his passing, Phil reportedly gave his family clear instructions, telling them plainly, “Do not cry at my funeral. I know where I’m going.” He was laid to rest on May 29, 2025, in a private family ceremony, with a video of the service later shared publicly by the family.

Having Phyllis living next door in his final years meant Phil got to spend meaningful time with the daughter he spent 74 years not knowing existed — time the family has described as a gift amid the grief of his Alzheimer’s diagnosis and eventual death. Following Phil’s passing, the family — including Willie, Jase, Al, Jep, and Phyllis — has continued to speak about carrying forward his legacy, which Korie Robertson summarized through Phil’s own long-repeated motto: faith, family, ducks, in that order.

Why This Story Resonated With Fans

Part of what made the story of Phil Robertson’s daughter so compelling to fans wasn’t just the surprise of a hidden family member — it was how the Robertsons handled it. A family whose public identity was built partly around Christian faith and redemption stories chose grace over scandal, quickly and visibly welcoming Phyllis rather than distancing themselves from an inconvenient chapter of Phil’s past.

For a franchise that made its name showing a rowdy, faith-centered Louisiana family navigate life’s messiness with humor and belief, the real-life discovery of a long-lost daughter — and the family’s response to it — became one of its most human, unscripted storylines yet.

Quick Facts: Phil Robertson’s Daughter

Phyllis Robertson Thomas is Phil Robertson’s biological daughter, born from a relationship Phil had in the 1970s, before his marriage to Kay had fully stabilized and long before “Duck Dynasty” existed. Phyllis discovered the truth about her paternity through DNA testing in 2019, met Phil in February 2020, and was quickly embraced by the entire Robertson family, including Miss Kay. She is married to artist Tony Thomas, has two adult sons, Grant and Joel, and several grandchildren, and relocated to West Monroe, Louisiana, to live next door to Phil and Kay. Phil Robertson died on May 25, 2025, following a battle with Alzheimer’s disease, having spent his last years building a relationship with the daughter he only came to know late in life.

The post Who Is Phil Robertson’s Daughter? The Untold Story of Phyllis Robertson Thomas appeared first on Cream.

• Hacks ended its five-season run on May 28 with a series finale on HBO that critics called a worthy conclusion to one of television’s most acclaimed comedies — the Emmy-winning show starred Jean Smart as Deborah Vance and Hannah Einbinder as Ava Daniels
• The finale opens with Deborah revealing her cancer has spread and that she plans to end her life at an assisted-suicide facility in Europe, bringing Ava along for the journey — the episode delivers a major fakeout that co-creators say was always the intended ending
• Co-creators Lucia Aniello, Jen Statsky, and Paul W. Downs told Collider they had the ending planned from the very beginning of the show, which premiered in 2021: “We always knew this was the ending”
• The finale drew widespread critical praise, with Vulture, Time, and the A.V. Club all calling it a fitting close to the show’s legacy-and-comedy-obsessed run

Spoilers below for the Hacks series finale.

Hacks is over — and it went out on its own terms. The series finale of the HBO comedy aired May 28, ending the five-season story of Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) and Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder) with the kind of precision that suggests co-creators Lucia Aniello, Jen Statsky, and Paul W. Downs knew exactly where they were going the whole time. It turns out they did. “We always knew this was the ending,” they told Collider in a post-finale interview, per Collider.

The episode begins with Deborah telling Ava that her cancer — a lumpectomy that hadn’t been fully successful — has spread. Rather than pursue treatment, Deborah reveals she wants to travel to a European assisted-suicide facility, and she wants Ava with her. The setup plays as a genuine gut-punch for most of the episode’s running time. Then comes the fakeout: Deborah was never going to go through with it. The creators describe it as the ultimate dark joke from a character who has spent five seasons teaching Ava — and the audience — that comedy lives in the gap between what you expect and what actually happens, per E! News.

How It All Ends

The finale is built on callbacks and full-circle moments. The episode opens with a one-shot of Ava walking through her new comedy pilot, mirroring the show’s own origin. Deborah’s cancer plot traces back to a detail introduced in Season 1 — a risk associated with her Tahitian grapefruit-flavored progesterone packets — giving the finale a sense of long-laid groundwork finally paying off. Every major character gets a resolution, with the show landing on what Time called “the perfect dark joke” — bittersweet but earned, per Time. Critics at Vulture and the A.V. Club called it a series finale that honored what Hacks had always been about: the cost of legacy, the comedy of survival, and the strange, combative love between two women at very different points in their lives, per Vulture.

The post ‘Hacks’ Ends After 5 Seasons With a Finale That Was Planned From the Beginning — Here’s How It All Wrapped Up appeared first on Cream.

• Marvel Animation has released the first trailer for X-Men ’97 Season 2, confirming that the Emmy-nominated Disney+ series will return on July 1 — two years after the first season concluded
• The trailer confirms Deadpool will appear in Season 2, making it his first animated appearance in the current Marvel continuity; the character’s inclusion had been teased ahead of the trailer’s release
• Season 2 also introduces Danger — a character from the X-Men comics — and features new character costumes; the episode count for the season has been revealed alongside the premiere date announcement
• X-Men ’97 has been described as the most-watched Disney+ animated series; the Season 2 trailer dropped to significant fan response

The X-Men are back — and they brought Deadpool. Marvel Animation released the first full trailer for X-Men ’97 Season 2 this week, and it confirmed what many fans had been hoping for: Deadpool will appear in the new season, marking the character’s return to animation in Marvel’s current continuity, per Collider.

The season premieres July 1 on Disney+. The trailer is dense — new costumes for the core team, the introduction of Danger (a synthetic being from X-Men comics lore capable of generating lifelike simulations), and what appears to be a substantially elevated threat scale from Season 1. Season 1 ended on several unresolved cliffhangers that the second season will be expected to address, per Comic Book Movie.

Deadpool in the Animated Universe

The Deadpool confirmation is the headline grab. Ryan Reynolds voiced the character in the live-action films, but this appearance is in the animated context of X-Men ’97 — a separate continuity. Two years after Season 1 wrapped, the show returns as one of Marvel’s more critically lauded recent projects, per MovieWeb. The July 1 premiere drops X-Men ’97 into a crowded summer streaming landscape — but given the response to that trailer, it has the attention it needs.

The post X-Men ’97 Season 2 Trailer Confirms Deadpool — and a July 1 Premiere Date on Disney+ appeared first on Cream.

• Halle Berry, 59, appeared on Today with Jenna & Sheinelle on Thursday, May 28, and during the show’s “Pink Chair Questionnaire” segment, misheard Jenna Bush Hager’s question about her “biggest ick” as something considerably more explicit
• Berry burst out laughing and began to answer the question she thought she’d heard before Sheinelle Jones slapped her with her cards; “I was like, ‘What?’ It sounded like that, didn’t it?” Berry said — Jones shot back: “No! You are naughty!”
• Bush Hager, insisting she had said “ick,” was briefly censored when she repeated the supposed phrase on-air: “Ick! I said ick!” The show cut to a commercial through nonstop laughter
• Berry shared the clip on her own social media; the moment went viral during a busy press stretch for the actress, who has been promoting her 2026 film Crime 101 alongside Chris Hemsworth and Mark Ruffalo

Halle Berry came to play on Thursday’s Today with Jenna & Sheinelle — and accidentally created one of the better live TV moments of the year. The 59-year-old Oscar winner joined Jenna Bush Hager and Sheinelle Jones for a segment called the “Pink Chair Questionnaire,” a breezy game of questions about guilty pleasures, secret nicknames, and trending topics, per Today.

Things were going fine until Bush Hager asked Berry about her “biggest ick.” Berry did not hear “ick.” She heard something else entirely, processed it for a beat, and then started to answer. The studio caught on immediately. Jones slapped Berry with her cards. “I was like, ‘What?’ It sounded like that, didn’t it?” Berry said, still laughing. Jones’s response: “No! You are naughty!”

Bush Hager tried to clarify — but when she repeated the word she’d actually said, she was censored on air. “Ick! I said ick!” she insisted, per OK Magazine. The segment ended with the show cutting to commercial as the laughter continued. Berry later posted the clip herself.

The Clip in Context

The moment landed during a particularly busy stretch for Berry, who has been doing the rounds to promote Crime 101, her 2026 film co-starring Chris Hemsworth and Mark Ruffalo. Per The Wrap, the viral exchange also landed in good company: the segment highlighted Today‘s history of live TV slip-ups, including Valerie Bertinelli’s recent accidental on-air cursing. Berry’s version may have been accidental, but her reaction — and her willingness to post it — suggested she wasn’t exactly mortified about it.

The post Halle Berry Thought Jenna Bush Hager Asked Something Very Different on Live TV — and the Whole ‘Today’ Set Lost It appeared first on Cream.

• CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss appointed Nick Bilton — a former New York Times tech columnist, Vanity Fair investigative journalist, and filmmaker — as executive producer of 60 Minutes, marking the latest major shake-up at a program that has been in near-constant turmoil since Weiss’s arrival
• Bilton, who directed the 2021 HBO documentary Fake Famous about influencer culture and has written books about technological disruption, has no prior broadcast television experience — an unprecedented background for the EP chair at America’s longest-running prime-time news magazine
• He replaces Tanya Simon, who had been in the role for less than a year; Simon had spent three decades at the program before being named EP in 2025
• The appointment comes after Anderson Cooper announced his abrupt departure from 60 Minutes and CBS declined to renew correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi’s contract months after pulling her segment on widespread torture in Salvadoran prisons; Christiane Amanpour has publicly criticized the show’s new leadership
• In his introductory memo to staff, Bilton called the position “the best job in journalism” and framed his mandate around modernization: “The world we are reporting on, and the world we are reporting to, has moved. And if we don’t move with it, in the ways that matter, we won’t be here for the next sixty years”

60 Minutes, the CBS News program that has been America’s most-watched news magazine for 52 consecutive seasons, has a new executive producer — and he’s never worked in broadcast television before.

CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss announced Thursday that Nick Bilton, a tech journalist and filmmaker, will take the EP chair, per The Wrap. Bilton spent years writing about Silicon Valley and technological disruption for The New York Times, then moved to investigative journalism at Vanity Fair. He directed Netflix and HBO documentaries, most notably Fake Famous, a 2021 HBO film examining influencer culture. He will replace Tanya Simon, who had been in the role less than a year — she had worked at the program for three decades before being elevated to the top job in 2025.

Weiss described Bilton as “one of the most entrepreneurial and ambitious journalists working today.” Bilton called the appointment “the honor of my career.”

‘Evolving or Dying Isn’t a Threat. It’s Simple Math.’

In his introductory memo to the 60 Minutes staff, Bilton made clear that modernization is the assignment. “The world we are reporting on, and the world we are reporting to, where people consume their news, has moved,” he wrote. “And if we don’t move with it, in the ways that matter, we won’t be here for the next sixty years.” He framed the challenge in characteristically tech-journalist terms: he’s spent his career watching industries get “obliterated” by technological change, and he intends 60 Minutes to be one of the institutions that adapts rather than disappears.

What that evolution actually looks like, he declined to say — not yet. “I have a notebook full of ideas,” he wrote, teasing changes to the show format, the correspondent pipeline, and the program’s relationship to a media landscape that no longer runs on Sunday-night appointment viewing. He said he’d spend his first 30 days listening and share a direction after that.

The appointment lands at a genuinely difficult moment for the show. Anderson Cooper announced his abrupt departure from 60 Minutes earlier this year. CBS declined to renew the contract of longtime correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi six months after pulling her segment on conditions inside El Salvador’s Cecot prison. Christiane Amanpour has publicly criticized the editorial decisions made under the new leadership, per HuffPost/Yahoo. The network’s owner, David Ellison of Paramount Skydance, has drawn criticism from journalists and media observers who see the changes as ideologically motivated. Weiss has disputed that characterization.

Bilton addressed the trust question directly in his memo, invoking the show’s very first broadcast: “On the very first episode of 60 Minutes, Mike Wallace said: ‘If this broadcast does what we hope it will do it will report reality.’ I can’t think of a better north star for 60 Minutes than that. Above all, that means a commitment to fairness — in story selection, in the edit room, and in the broadcast.” The show first aired in September 1968. Whether Bilton can bring it into 2026 intact is the question everyone in the building is now waiting to see answered.

The post CBS Taps Tech Journalist Nick Bilton to Run ’60 Minutes’ — His First TV Job, and a Defining Bet for the Embattled Show appeared first on Cream.

• Spider-Noir launched on Amazon Prime Video on May 27 and has set an all-time Marvel audience score record on Rotten Tomatoes: 91% from critics and 92% from audiences — higher than X-Men ’97, the original Netflix Daredevil, and every MCU series
• Nicolas Cage plays Ben "The Spider" Reilly, a seasoned private detective in 1930s New York who moonlights as a masked superhero; the show is not an MCU series but connects to the larger Marvel multiverse
• The supporting cast includes Lamorne Morris, Li Jun Li, Karen Rodriguez, Abraham Popoola, Jack Huston, and Brendan Gleeson; the show was produced by the producers of the Spider-Verse films
• Reviews highlight Cage’s physical comedy and character work — he does in-character impressions of Peter Lorre and Humphrey Bogart as disguises — as a major factor in the show’s success
• The Financial Times gave it 4/5: "well-crafted enough, adult enough, and just about original enough, to offer a deserved moment of reprieve"; the Daily Telegraph also gave it 4/5

Nobody quite knew what to make of Spider-Noir before it launched. A 1930s noir take on Spider-Man, starring Nicolas Cage, on Amazon Prime Video — it was ambitious in the specific way that can go either beautifully right or memorably wrong.

It went right. The series debuted Wednesday on Prime Video and has already done something no Marvel project has done before: it set the all-time audience score record on Rotten Tomatoes across all Marvel properties. Per Forbes, Spider-Noir sits at a 91% critic score and 92% audience score — placing it above every Marvel series including the beloved X-Men ’97 (91% audience), the original Netflix Daredevil (90%), and Agents of SHIELD (91%).

The show stars Cage as Ben Reilly, a world-weary private eye working in Depression-era New York who leads a secret life as the city’s only masked superhero, known as "The Spider." The series leans hard into its noir influences — black-and-white-tinged visuals, voiceover narration, jazz-era New York — and uses the aesthetic as a foundation rather than a gimmick.

What the Critics Are Saying

The Financial Times gave it four out of five stars: "Audiences have had enough of the churn of movie sequels and their declining quality. But shows like this are well-crafted enough, adult enough, and just about original enough, to offer a deserved moment of reprieve." The Daily Telegraph matched the score: "Spider-Noir is as much a tribute to the golden era of sleuthing flicks as it is to caped crusaders getting their tights in a twist."

Not every review was glowing — per Just Jared’s roundup, Vulture called it "just another disposable exercise in IP maintenance," and the LA Times described it as "something of a stunt." But those were outliers in an otherwise strong reception.

The Cage Factor

Multiple reviews single out Cage’s performance as the engine that makes the show work — specifically, the physical and vocal creativity he brings to Ben Reilly’s habit of adopting disguises. In one episode, he slips into a full Peter Lorre impression — voice, posture, the hand on the back of the head — to talk his way past a suspicious doctor. In another, he channels Humphrey Bogart, flipping up his hat brim, donning thick glasses, and inventing a character called Pete the maintenance man. In a third, he becomes a bumbling Jimmy Stewart type to get past hospital staff.

It’s the kind of unhinged, committed Cage performance that audiences tend to reward, and in this case it’s calibrated to the material in a way that doesn’t feel like a joke.

The show was produced by the team behind the Spider-Verse animated films and, per early analysis of the series, does quietly connect to the broader Marvel multiverse — though it’s not part of the MCU proper. Season 1 is streaming now on Prime Video.

The post Nicolas Cage’s ‘Spider-Noir’ Just Broke a Marvel Record on Rotten Tomatoes — and the Reviews Explain Why appeared first on Cream.

• The autopsy report for Storage Wars star Darrell Sheets, obtained by Us Weekly, shows his toxicology analysis came back completely negative
• Officials tested for benzodiazepines, cocaine, fentanyl, and other substances — none were found in his system
• The Mohave County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Sheets’ death a suicide
• His son Brandon shared a tribute on social media: “I love you Dad and I will do my best to live in your honor and respect our Family”

The autopsy report for Storage Wars star Darrell Sheets has been released, and it answers one of the questions that followed his death: there were no drugs in his system.

The report, obtained exclusively by Us Weekly, states that Sheets’ toxicology analysis came back negative. Officials tested samples of his blood for benzodiazepines, cocaine, fentanyl, and other substances — none were detected. The Mohave County Medical Examiner’s Office, which handled the examination, has ruled his death a suicide.

The report describes Sheets as “a well-developed, well-nourished adult male” and notes several tattoos — including a female figure, the number 58, a joker, and a checkered flag — though these were not relevant to the cause of death.

His son Brandon paid tribute to his father on social media after the news. “I love you Dad and I will do my best to live in your honor and respect our Family,” Brandon wrote. “Let’s all continue to build those memories.”

Sheets was one of the original cast members of Storage Wars, the A&E reality series that followed bidders competing at storage unit auctions. He appeared on the show for years and became one of its most recognizable personalities, known for his enthusiasm and his son Brandon’s involvement in the business alongside him.

If you or someone you know is struggling, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is available 24/7 by calling or texting 988.

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• Joy Behar, 83, announced on The View’s Behind the Table companion podcast that she’s taking a brief hiatus starting next week
• She’s flying to Paris for a week, then taking the Eurostar tunnel to London — a proper European vacation
• The show made her pre-record (“bank”) weekend episodes before leaving so she’ll still appear on air while traveling
• Producer Brian Teta broke the news on the podcast; Behar jokingly said the show had made her “bank” the shows even though she won’t be there
• The hiatus is temporary — Behar has been a View co-host since 1997 and is currently in her 29th season

Joy Behar is going to Europe, and she made sure everyone knew about it.

On Tuesday’s episode of Behind the Table — The View’s companion podcast — executive producer Brian Teta let it slip that Behar would be taking some time off. “This is your last podcast for a little bit, because next week you’re not going to be here,” Teta said. “Are we talking about this?”

Behar was ready. “Well, they made me bank the weekend shows even though I’m not here,” she said. “You better tell people why I’m not here.”

The reason: she’s flying to Paris this week, staying for a week, then hopping the Eurostar through the Channel Tunnel to London. It’s the kind of itinerary that sounds like it was planned the moment the season calendar cleared.

The “banking” detail is the practical reality of live television — Behar recorded her weekend show appearances in advance so viewers at home would see her on screen while she was actually somewhere in the 8th arrondissement. It’s not the first time a View host has pre-taped around travel, but Behar’s particular insistence on telling the audience exactly what the show was doing with her recorded segments had a very Joy-being-Joy energy about it.

The hiatus is short. Behar, who turns 83 this year, has been a co-host on The View since its premiere in 1997 — which makes this her 29th season. A Paris trip barely registers as an absence by those standards.

She’ll be back. The croissants, meanwhile, are not going to eat themselves.

The post Joy Behar Is Taking a Paris-to-London Trip — and ‘The View’ Made Her Pre-Record First appeared first on Cream.

• Ella Bright, 19, addressed the nearly 10-year age gap between her and Off Campus co-star Belmont Cameli, 28, on the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast
• She was 18 when she filmed the Prime Video series and has been fielding questions about the dynamic ever since
• Bright said she came into the role “with more than enough information and knowledge” and that she never felt uncomfortable
• She also addressed scenes involving partial nudity, dismissing any suggestion she was blindsided
• Off Campus — based on Elle Kennedy’s hockey romance book series — has already been renewed for a second season

Ella Bright has heard the concern. She’s addressed it now. And she’d really like to move on.

The 19-year-old British-American actress, who plays music major Hannah Wells opposite Belmont Cameli’s hockey player Garrett Graham in Prime Video’s Off Campus, sat down with Amanda Hirsch on the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast Tuesday and tackled the question that’s been following the show since it premiered: what does she make of the nearly decade-wide age gap between her and her on-screen love interest?

“Listen, I came into this job — and during the chemistry reads — with more than enough information and knowledge and understanding of what this role required,” she told Deadline. “I just fell in love with Hannah and these scripts immediately. Like, there was never a question that I wouldn’t want to do this.”

Then, directly: “I get people’s concern. But not once did I feel uncomfortable.”

She Was 18 When She Filmed It

That context matters. Bright was 18 years old when cameras rolled on Season 1 — old enough to make her own choices, but young enough that the discourse around the production was always going to happen. The Wrap noted she came into the project with “more than enough” awareness of what it involved, and she’s been consistent on that point every time it’s come up. There was no surprise. There was no pressure she didn’t knowingly walk into.

Cameli is 28. The gap is real. Bright’s position is essentially: she’s a professional who understood the assignment, and holding her to a lower standard of agency than she’s actually demonstrated isn’t doing her any favors.

US Magazine reported she also addressed the show’s scenes involving partial nudity — another point viewers had flagged — and was equally unbothered. “I couldn’t be more comfortable,” she said, The Wrap noted.

What the Show Actually Is

For those who haven’t watched yet: Off Campus is based on Elle Kennedy’s wildly popular hockey romance book series, and the Prime Video adaptation has leaned into the steamy, emotionally charged tone of the source material. Hannah Wells is an introspective songwriter; Garrett Graham is the Briar University star athlete who falls for her. It’s earnest, it’s romantic, and it’s already been renewed for a second season — which means the discourse will continue whether Bright wants it to or not.

The cast skews young — Hollywood Life rounded up the ages and found the main players ranging from their early to late twenties — which is accurate to the college-set story. Bright is the youngest lead, and that’s where the scrutiny lands.

Her Answer Is Done

What comes through in everything Bright has said on this is that she’s not defensive about it — she’s just clear. She knew what she was doing. She chose to do it. She’s glad she did. “There was never a question,” she said.

Season 2 is coming. She’ll probably be asked again.

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