Free Republic

If what you already know about the FBI’s investigation into President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia has you wondering what can come next, “make sure you are sitting down because it’s about to get worse,” said Patrick Byrne, the philanthropist and CEO of the mega online retail chain Overstock.com. Byrne revealed never published details about his intimate relationship with the Russian gun right’s activist and libertarian, Maria Butina, who is now serving out her sentence after pleading guilty in 2018 to working as a foreign agent in the U.S. without registering. In an interview several weeks ago, Byrne recanted first...

FLEMING: Why were the Oscar ratings down 19% to the smallest viewership level of all time? I found it a most satisfying show. Jimmy Kimmel and producers Mike De Luca and Jennifer Todd did a fine job all the way to the finish line this time, owning last year’s gaffe and ensuring it didn’t happen with foolproof 100-point type on each envelope. Kimmel was hilarious; the film montages and special presenters infused the 90th Oscars with a sense of film history. Compared to the men-are-bad funereal atmosphere of the Golden Globes, this show was fun but still managed graceful moments...

Jennifer Lawrence’s big-budget Red Sparrow is underperforming big time at the box office. Already-modest predictions called for a $20 million opening. As of now, it looks like $17 million, which is a disaster for a product that, with promotion and advertising, cost in the neighborhood of $120 million. This is also another disaster for Lawrence, whose star has declined swiftly since she revealed herself to be an anti-Christian bigot and a divisive, mean-spirited, left-wing jerk. Her last big film, mother!, opened on 2400 screens to just $7.5 million. Prior to that, even with Chris Pratt on the poster, Passengers couldn’t...

Hollywood star Jennifer Lawrence hit back at feminists who attacked her for wearing a “revealing” dress in cold weather, writing on Facebook Wednesday that she is “extremely offended” and calling her critics “sexist.” Lawrence came under fire for wearing a Versace dress, which critics described as “revealing,” while posing for a photo with her Red Sparrow co-stars Joel Edgerton, Jeremy Irons, Matthias Schoenaerts, and director Francis Lawrence, who wore winter coats. Helen Lewis, the deputy editor of the New Statesman, received thousands of likes in her critique of Lawrence’s choice of clothing.