Free Republic

Kiefer Sutherland denies he stayed in character and bullied his “Stand by Me” cast in 1986. Sutherland, 57, looked back on the 1986 coming-of-age film during Thursday’s episode of “The Talk,” which former co-star Jerry O’Connell co-hosts. Natalie Morales used Sutherland’s visit to address the viral claim that he would continue to be mean to the movie’s young actors when the cameras stopped rolling.

American chess grandmaster Hans Niemann previously admitted to cheating twice in the past, but a new investigation reveals that he did it way more than that. Conducted and released by Chess.com, a 72-page report alleges that the 19-year-old champion likely received illegal assistance in more than 100 online games, the latest of which occurred as recently as 2020. Those matches included contests in which prize money was awarded. {snip}

At least someone got to see “Batgirl.” A select group of folks — mostly people who worked on the show, both cast and crew, as well as representatives and executives — reportedly have been invited to private screenings of the “shelved” film on the Warner Bros. Studio lot this week, multiple sources told The Hollywood Reporter. One insider even described the viewings as “funeral screenings” before the footage is locked away in a vault — but it’s unknown if that vault is physical or digital. On Tuesday, the filmmakers behind the movie, Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, said they...