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Stavros Halkias Netflix Special ‘Uncle Stav’ Sets Premiere Date

Published

2 days ago

July 27, 2026

EXCLUSIVE: Comedian Stavros Halkias has announced that his sophomore Netflix special, Uncle Stav, is set to launch on the platform on September 8.

Halkias taped the hour at The Lyric in his hometown of Baltimore, MD in July, with Matt Johnson, director of his forthcoming A24 film Tony, at the helm. He’d originally been scheduled to tape in April but was forced to push while healing from a broken arm.

No word yet on what Halkias discusses in the new hour, though the title obviously bears familial connotations and the comic often has joked about being a “weird uncle.” He and Ben O’Brien exec produced for Stavvy Baby Entertainment.

One of today’s most popular young comics, Halkias’ last Netflix special was 2023’s Fat Rascal. His history with the service also includes a role in their Shane Gillis comedy Tires, which returns for its third season on August 13.

Halkias came to Netflix after taking to YouTube with his breakout debut Live at the Lodge Room. He first gained recognition as a founding member and former co-host of the hit podcast Cum Town and now hosts the popular pod Stavvy’s World, which debuted at #3 on the iTunes Comedy Charts, amassing hundreds of thousands of subscribers in its first year.

Based in New York City, Halkias has been expanding his acting resume of late, after appearing alongside Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons in Bugonia, the Oscar-nominated film from Yorgos Lanthimos. On the heels of A24’s Anthony Bourdain biopic Tony, out August 7, he’ll appear opposite Glen Powell in Judd Apatow’s new comedy The Comeback King for Universal.

Halkias is repped by UTA and Schreck Rose Dapello.

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Ben Affleck Wins ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire’ For His Congo Charity

Published

4 minutes ago

July 30, 2026

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Ben Affleck‘s nonprofit Eastern Congo Initiative was the real winner during the two-part conclusion of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

On Wednesday, the 2x Oscar winner teamed up with Jeopardy champ Jamie Ding to bring the ABC game show’s big prize home to his charity, the first U.S.-based advocacy and grant-making organization dedicated to supporting the people of eastern Congo.

The duo made it to the million-dollar question when they opted to use their Ask-the-Host lifeline on Jimmy Kimmel, as well as their Phone-a-Friend, neither of whom was sure of the answer. They ultimately went with Kimmel’s answer, which proved to be correct.

While dialing his friend and trivia teammate Steven Morrison, Ding mentioned Affleck’s best friend and Kimmel’s nemesis Matt Damon, to which the host asked, “Are you looking for trouble? … I’m not looking for any trouble, man. I just want you guys to win.”

The prize-winning question asked which of the multiple choice answers were not names of turkeys pardoned by the US president, with “Spaghetti & Meatball” being the correct answer.

Rebooted by Kimmel in 2020, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire returned for Season 5 last week along with Affleck and Ding, as well as Larry David and daughter Cazzie David. This week’s episode also featured Jason Alexander and Wayne Knight, along with Tig Notaro and Pete Holmes.

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Grammy CEO “Saddened” By BTS Withdrawal, Defends Asian Pop Category

Published

34 minutes ago

July 30, 2026

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After BTS sent shockwaves through the music industry with their withdrawal from the 69th Grammy Awards, the Recording Academy’s CEO has responded.

On Wednesday, shortly after the K-pop removed themselves from consideration in apparent protest over the newly added Best Asian Pop Music Performance category, Grammy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. said he was “saddened” but, “I understand and respect the decision.

“I am saddened to hear that BTS has chosen not to participate in the Grammy Awards process this year, but as a music creator, I understand and respect their decision,” he said in a statement.

“I do want to clarify something that seems to be getting lost in the conversation,” added Mason. “The Asian Pop category was created to celebrate the depth, diversity and extraordinary growth of pop artistry coming out of Asia. The spirit of this new category is to shine a dedicated spotlight on these important artists. More categories mean more artists’ work is recognized. It’s never to divide, but to expand who is recognized by our 15,000 Grammy voters.”

Mason also clarified that submitting music to any genre category does not exclude an artist from submitting to general categories like Record of the Year, Album of the Year and Song of the Year. “Those categories remain open to any eligible recording, regardless of genre. Recognition in a genre category and recognition in the General Field are not mutually exclusive. An artist can absolutely pursue both,” he explained.

“The Grammy organization is here to serve music and all the people who make it,” Mason continued. “As we continue to expand the reach, our membership and our awards, regardless of geography or language, I want to emphasize that we will continue to listen to the global music community and work to honor and celebrate all the artists whose music moves the world.”

Earlier on Wednesday, BTS members RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook posted in a joint statement, “We have decided not to submit for Grammy consideration this year. We hope our music can be heard and loved for what it is, rather than being divided by region or language. We thank Army and everyone who has always stood by us.”

The decision comes after the Recording Academy announced several new categories last month, including the Best Asian Pop Music Performance, which is designed to recognize artistic excellence in “performances originating from or widely recognized within Asian markets, including but not limited to K-pop, J-pop and C-pop, with meaningful use of one or more Asian languages.”

In March, BTS released their 10th studio album Arirang, the group’s first in six years, after pausing to complete their mandator 18-month South Korea military service.

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Jeff Hiller On 7-Minute ‘Pluribus’ Role That Earned Him Emmy Nom

Published

1 hour ago

July 29, 2026

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With only a seven-minute performance to work with, Jeff Hiller secured an Emmy nomination for his role on Apple TV’s Pluribus.

Following his appearance as hive mind member Larry in the Vince Gilligan sci-fi series, the actor recently noted that viewers have compared his character in the Season 1 episode “Please, Carol” to AI, despite him “trying to convey extreme love” for Rhea Seehorn’s Carol Sturka.

“I’ve heard this. A lot of people have said, ‘You’re just like ChatGPT,’” he said on The Daily Show. “It was never mentioned until it came out. I think we shot this kind of a long time ago. It was kind of before ChatGPT was ubiquitous. And so I didn’t really think about it.”

Hiller added, “I was trying to convey extreme love for her. And instead, I did ChatGPT. Anyway, I got an Emmy nomination for it. Sometimes you aim for one target, you hit another.”

“I’m not gonna win,” said Hiller with a laugh before sharing what his acceptance speech would have been. “This one makes more sense. Suck it!” he joked.

In Pluribus, romance author Carol (Seehorn) is one of only a few people in the world immune to a mysterious extraterrestrial virus that has turned the world into a blissfully content hive mind known as the “Others”. While trying to figure out what the hive mind wants and how to stop it from forcing her to join, she questions Larry about what the Others want.

Last year, Hiller won his first Emmy, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, for his performance as Joel in the third and final season of HBO’s Somebody Somewhere.