Entertainment
'Stranger Things' star says his L.A. book event was canceled because of 'antisemitic intimidation'
Book Soup, West Hollywood‘s storied bookstore, has become the third stop on “Stranger Things” actor Brett Gelman’s debut book tour to cancel his appearance after receiving pushback and incensed messages in protest of the event.
Book Soup’s cancellation, which it called “entirely a question of safety,” follows similar moves by San Francisco’s Book Passage and the Book Stall in Winnetka, Ill. The former said it objected to “intemperate and ill-advised remarks that [Gelman] made against some other ethnic and social groups,” and the latter cited security concerns — but Gelman said he senses an undercurrent of antisemitism.
Gelman has become one of Hollywood’s loudest supporters of Israel. Aside from advocating for Israelis on his social media accounts, Gelman also spoke at the November “March for Israel” rally in Washington, D.C., and has made several solidarity trips to Israel.
His debut short story collection, “The Terrifying Realm of the Possible: Nearly True Stories,” which he calls “a criticism of my own Jewish neurosis and self-hatred and identity,” will be released by HarperCollins imprint Dey Street on March 19.
Having himself received intense threats in recent months, Gelman said he considered Book Soup’s safety concerns to be valid. But he’d also assumed that those concerns would be assuaged when he hired personal security for the event.
“I am really wondering if there was any direct threat made,” Gelman said, adding that Book Soup did not share the exact content of the messages it had received. “Is this bookstore pulling out because they don’t want to be seen as a business that would host me?”
In a statement about the cancellation, Book Soup said it “feels very strongly that a free society should protect individuals’ freedom of thought and expression. In the same spirit we respect individuals’ rights to not support people or books they don’t agree with, but we also believe in the foundations of democracy that allow individuals to decide those things for themselves.”
“We did everything we could think to do to continue the event (requiring tickets, security, evaluating venues),” the statement continued, “but in the end, the safety of the author, our staff, and attendees took precedence. The pushback and expressed concerns had persisted, and amidst the current charged environment the event became a risk we were not willing to take.”
Book Soup’s move is part of a larger pattern of institutions scrapping appearances by Jewish and Palestinian authors, or those vocal about the Israel-Hamas war, for fear of stoking controversy.
In October, following Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel, a German literary association canceled an award ceremony that was set to honor Palestinian author Adania Shibli for her novel, “Minor Detail,” which recounts the rape and killing of a Palestinian girl in 1949 by Israeli soldiers. A few days later, a New York cultural center paused its literary reading series after receiving pushback for canceling an event with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen, who has been openly critical of Israel.
Earlier this month, protesters from the Writers Against the War on Gaza coalition “committed to the liberation for the Palestinian people” disrupted a PEN America event with comedian Moshe Kasher and actor Mayim Bialik, an outspoken supporter of Israel. One of the protesters, Palestinian American writer Randa Jarrar, was physically removed from the auditorium.
“As a free speech organization, we defend and uphold the right to protest,” PEN America wrote in a statement about the disruption. “However, we are firm in the conviction that protesters — while they have a right to be heard — cannot be allowed to shout down, shut down, or obstruct the speech of others.”
Aaron Terr, director of public advocacy at the civil liberties group Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, warned about the potential chilling effect of recent postponements and cancellations in an October interview with the New York Times.
“It enables the heckler’s veto,” Terr said, “where people are able to shut down speakers just by threatening to create a disturbance.”
Gelman said he believes Book Soup perpetuated this narrative by “giving into antisemitic intimidation.”
“If they’re really terrified,” he said, “I feel for them. But if they are doing this because they fear for what their reputation as a store is going to be, or how they’re going to be seen by the side [of social justice] that I’ve always stood with that I feel betrayed by right now, shame on them. Shame on them for that. Shame on them for blocking the conversation.”
In the age of social media echo chambers, which are “erasing empathy in real time,” Gelman said, the onus is on institutions to resist the urge to avoid polemical subjects like the Israel-Hamas war, promoting civil dialogue that breeds understanding rather than further division.
“We should be amplifying voices — humanistic voices, not extreme voices — that want to have a conversation about this,” he said, whether they‘re Israeli or Palestinian.
By having those conversations, Gelman said he hopes “we can really help push forward representation for both groups of people a lot more, and not see both of our cultures as dangerous cultures to deal with.”
Gelman is working to reschedule the canceled book events at local Jewish community centers and temples.
It’s a good year when we get movies like Remarkably Bright Creatures and The Sheep Detectives at the same time. If there’s one type of emotional draw we’ll never say no to when it comes to the fiction we consume, it’s wholesome. The kind of movies and TV shows that leave you with a bit more hope than you expected. The kind of stories that make you believe that humanity isn’t as broken as it really is.
The Sheep Detectives is essentially tailor-made for anyone who loves a good whodunnit that’s rich with nuance and humor. The clever decision to shift the genre into something both kids and adults could appreciate together is no small feat, and that’s largely where its mass appeal lies. Murder is a heavy subject to deal with—as is grief—yet this story makes sitting with the weight of both a little easier. It could kickstart a number of thoughtful conversations while it simultaneously delivers plenty of laughs along the way.
For adults, there’s also a huge appeal in the casting—the voice actors especially. Anyone who knows me knows that Ted Lasso is the kind of show I’ll always put first, so hearing Brett Goldstein voice a sheep is the kind of A+ decision that’s effortless to appreciate. Hugh Jackman, Nicholas Galitzine, Molly Gordon, Nicholas Braun, Emma Thompson, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Bella Ramsey, Regina Hall, Rhys Darby, Patrick Stewart, Hong Chau, and the whole cast do an exceptional job as well, making every moment of The Sheep Detectives thoroughly entertaining.
It’s hard to imagine anyone coming out of the movie not thinking it’s one of the best things we’ll watch all year, and that’s a high compliment considering 2026 is full of gems like Project Hail Mary and the upcoming The Odyssey. It’s the exact kind of movie we could all use, but more than anything, the kind of story we could use more of. If there’s any sort of sequel, sign me up. Let’s make it a trilogy. Give us more of the sheep.
The cinematography is gorgeous, the writing is sharp, the performances are thrilling, and the message is a gem worth holding onto. The Sheep Detectives is the kind of feel-good treasure that does an excellent job of reminding us why movies like this will always matter. There’s a thoughtful message about how grief is meant to be shared and why it’s so important to carry those who’ve passed with us. Yes, it’d be convenient to forget our pain by sheer mental willpower, but we aren’t meant to do that. As humans and as animals, I imagine that the good, bad, and ugly are all part of what makes life beautiful, and that’s a comforting message to sit with.
The concept of a whodunnit featuring sheep solving a murder sounds so wild on paper, yet everything about it results in the kind of movie that should signal to Hollywood we want more creative approaches to what’s familiar. There’s a reason The Muppets are so popular, and we shouldn’t be afraid of making things that sound a bit too whimsical on paper. In other words, The Sheep Detectives embraces the whimsy, and it’s exactly what makes it so delightful.
The Sheep Detectives is now streaming on Prime Video.
First Featured Image Credit: ©Amazon MGM Studios
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The National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory for this week that includes Los Angeles County and other parts of the Southland, especially in valleys and away from the coast.
Temperatures are expected to rise in the Santa Clarita Valley, the east and west San Fernando Valley, as well as parts of the San Gabriel Valley and northwest L.A. County mountains beginning Tuesday and lasting through Thursday, with warm, seasonably elevated fire weather conditions, according to the National Weather Service.
Forecasts indicate the mercury will reach 90 to 105 degrees in the interior, 80 to 90 degrees in the inland coastal plain — including downtown L.A. — with highs in the 80s and lower 90s in the foothills and canyons of southwest Santa Barbara County.
Rose Schoenfeld, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard, said temperatures should be five to 10 degrees above normal for this time of year thanks to a high-pressure system building up over the region.
Though temperatures are expected to drop after Thursday, don’t expect that cooling to last.
“Looking ahead, you might be seeing some outlooks that look pretty favorable, but that heat will linger and redevelop with a pretty impressive heat wave for much of the west, that would be starting next weekend or so,” Schoenfeld said. “It doesn’t seem like we’re out of the woods, even if temperatures start to drop after Thursday.”
The rising mercury coincides a with major marine heat wave across the Pacific Ocean that has the potential to affect weather events around the world, bringing months of warmer oceans, which trigger thunderstorms and extreme heat thousands of miles away.
In recent weeks, record heat waves have baked parts of Europe, with temperatures hitting 104 degrees in some countries. France has reported more than 1,000 heat-related deaths.
In the U.S., record heat has gripped much of the Midwest and East Coast, with temperatures between 110 and 115 degrees in major metropolitan areas, with the National Weather Service issuing an extreme heat warning for much of the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.
The sweltering temperatures have disrupted travel and led to a number of cancellations planned for celebrations over the Fourth of July weekend, including Philadelphia’s Salute to Independence parade. The Great American State Fair, on the National Mall in Washington, was forced to shut down for a few hours.
Amtrak canceled some trains in the Northeast because of excessive heat that could affect the tracks.
The Isolate Thief, 2026.
Directed by John Suits.
Starring Mackenzie Foy, Odeya Rush, Joe Pantoliano, Sean Bean, Jack Kesy, Ty Simpkins, Bryan Martin, and Martin Sensmeier.
SYNOPSIS:
A young woman struggles to conceal the gold she stole from violent outlaws who have seized control of her remote outpost, outwitting them amid a deadly winter where survival becomes a game of cunning and betrayal.
Set at a Union outpost in frigid temperatures, John Suits’ The Isolate Thief transcends what was likely a small budget with a fittingly chilly, oppressive look, and an ensemble that sneaks up on you as not only packed but smartly cast. Front and center is Mackenzie Foy shedding her Twilight and Disney-oriented roots for gritty period-piece work that she handles capably and convincingly, whether it be fending off wolves at the outpost, bandaging a wound, playing a deceitful game for survival, or wielding a firearm.
That’s only the start, though, as Joe Pantoliano shows up as a harmless graverobber only to re-enter the picture as the hostage of a group of Union soldiers led by Sean Bean on a search for gold thought to be discovered by him, which in reality has been hidden away by Mackenzie Foy’s parentless (her father recently died in the war, meaning she is all alone at the outpost), grieving, underestimated caretaker waiting for the right moment to make a break with the gold for San Francisco. The merciless candor with which the Union soldiers are comfortable torturing the drifting graverobber should also be enough to signal that something is off about the group and that our hero probably shouldn’t trust them.
Without giving too much away, Ada (Mackenzie Foy) is up against a violent group of outlaws posing as Union soldiers under orders from Sean Bean’s Fiddler, who will stop at nothing for this gold (accompanied by fellow evildoers played by a range of underappreciated names such as Ty Simpkins and Jack Kesy). In the forest, she also stumbles across a badly injured Emily (Odeya Rush), who has a connection to these outlaws, reduced to being treated as a sex object (they refer to her as an unflattering term for a prostitute, which feels inaccurate given that such a term would imply she has a choice rather than having her agency regularly taken as it is here), so broken by her experiences with them that she advises Ada to give in to their demands as defying them typically results more horrifying outcomes.
Even if the screenplay from Kevin Lefler doesn’t necessarily crackle the way a pressure-cooker story like this should (there’s a lot of The Hateful Eight in the film’s DNA, but without anywhere near that level of character and thematic complexity), the cast elevates the material and provides a quiet intensity simmering underneath the casual conversations and deceptions that we know will eventually blow up in Ada’s face. It’s also a story that isn’t afraid to go to some fairly bleak places and put these women through the wringer as they fight back and try to make it out alive.
What it boils down to is a simplistic cautionary tale of ruthless, misogynistic outlaws underestimating the women they are up against. That is also desperately felt when the women turn the tables in the third act. Effectively accomplishing what it sets out to do. A freezing locale is used for atmospheric advantage (the ground is frozen solid, meaning graves can’t be dug, to give an idea of just how cold it is) while allowing Mackenzie Foy to tap into some new acting tools demonstrating resourcefulness, alongside Sean Bean believably going from calm to terrifying on a dime. The Isolate Thief is a feminist period-piece Western that organically empowers through familiar, albeit competent and engaging, storytelling, culminating in some tense battle-of-the-sexes action.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder
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